I live in a great city with one of the best medical centers in the country. People come from all over the world seeking care from some of the same doctors and hospitals that are only minutes away from my home. My husband’s life has no doubt been extended by brilliant cardiologists and advanced medical procedures. My father-in-law is alive today because of the genius of doctors who understood his need for emergency surgery and then weeks later interceded when he came down with Covid and was unable to breathe. I cannot complain about the remarkable people who always appear at the right time to bring better health to the people of the Houston metropolitan area. Sadly our medical system is not so kind and efficient in every situation.
When I was fifteen years old I landed a summer job as a receptionist at the clinic of our family physician. I routed phone calls, welcomed patients, took payments for services and even made appointments for visits. The doctors advised me to keep slots open each day to accommodate patients with emergency issues. Nary a day went by without someone rushing into the office needing help immediately. In every situation one of the doctors would volunteer to see the patient. Only the most serious medical crises warranted a call to an ambulance which would take the patient to a hospital. Sometimes the doctor would even ride along inside the ambulance ministering to the person in crisis.
Such scenarios are a thing of the past. Phone numbers for most doctors go to a central location only for the purpose of scheduling future appointments. Emergencies are directed to 911 or nearby emergency centers. Nobody shows up at a doctor’s office without an appointment that has been secured weeks or months in advance unless the individual has paid big bucks for concierge care from a doctor with a private practice that often excludes patients with Medicare or Medicaid.
We like to think that we have the best medical care in the world, but that feeling is only present for those of us with enough insurance to secure a long term relationship with a great doctor. Even then we have to plan ahead for services by making our appointments well in advance of the times when we need them. Doctors are so overwhelmed with patients that they have to prioritize the needs of patients, leaving some to wait for months before ever seeing a doctor face to face.
At Christmastime I injured my ankle on a Sunday evening. After an hour or so I was unable to put weight on the foot without excruciating pain. I knew that I needed to see someone immediately. Since I had sustained the injury in the upstairs of my home I had to shinny down the stairs on my backside and then hop to the car with the assistance of my husband. He drove me to an emergency center affiliated with Methodist Hospital where the doctor on call took x-rays to find that I did not have a broken bone but my ankle bone was severely bruised and I had a traumatic contusion of the soft tissue in that area. He stabilized the ankle with a boot and told me to rest and ice that area for the next forty eight hours. He also instructed me to inform my primary care physician about the incident.
I was able to reach my doctor the next morning quite easily via a messaging system. He looked at the x-rays and the comments from the attending physician at the emergency center and recommended that I contact a particular specialist in orthopedics who focuses on injuries to the feet. Her curriculum vitae was outstanding and even better was the realization that her office is only a few miles from my home. Unfortunately she was booked until February 15, more than two months after my injury. The helpful woman making appointments for her looked for other doctors who might have earlier opening but was unable to find anyone who was not booked solidly. She registered me for a February 15 appointment and flagged my request by putting me on a wait list in case someone canceled before that faraway date.
I mention these things because many Americans are wary of establishing a national healthcare system because they have heard horror stories about such systems in other countries that force patients to wait for months to receive services. Sadly I sense that we are not that far away from the same kind of experiences here in our country. In fact I have been hearing horror stories from younger people with private insurance who are waiting as long as six months to see doctors for concerns that they have. In my own case I have learned to schedule checkups with my doctors a year in advance. In November I signed up for cataract surgery that will take place in June. I sense that our own medical crisis is rapidly encroaching and will no doubt get worse as more of us in the huge Baby Boomer demographic grow older and more prone to developing problems.
I fully appreciate the medical care that is available to me but I worry that there are more and more people who are being locked out of the system either due to cost or because of long waits for care that does not come as soon as needed. It seems to be true that those with enough money are always going to be fine and even those who are older like me tend to be taken seriously. Somewhere in the middle are the are working people of the United States whose health insurance premiums are rising at the same time that the provided services are shrinking. There are even medical deserts in many parts of the country where finding a doctor can be almost impossible. It’s time to take a very hard look at how we might improve the functioning of our medical system before it is too late and too expensive to do so.
I’m not complaining. I tend to be quite healthy and my doctors have never once let me down. When I hear about younger people reeling under the cost of medical care and then paying incredible copays while waiting for months for services, I truly wonder if we are doing the right things. We have to insure that every citizen gets the care they need when they need it. It’s time to straighten things out before we have a true crisis.
All It Takes Is A Little Love 