On Fri, 4 Jan 2008 09:48:07 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Jan 4, 9:35*am, John H. wrote:
On Fri, 4 Jan 2008 05:16:12 -0800 (PST), wrote:
On Jan 3, 5:39*pm, Jim wrote:
Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
Woman waits in California hospital for a bed to open up here
Wednesday, January 02 - 11:30:00 AM

A friend of mine, here in the good 'ol USA, dislocated his knee a week
and a half ago. *Had to wait a week for the MRI and has a meeting with
the surgeon next Monday. *He's in intense pain and can't walk at all.

He's a veteran and has a good HMO (Pacific Care).

Is our system really that good?

Awhile back, I came very close to dying. I have very good insurance. I
waited in the emergency room for six hours, then two hours in triage,
then another day and a half before a surgical suite would be available
for the surgeon to get me in. It was so close at the end that he came
and personally checked on me every half hour.

I find it hard to believe that Jim's friend didn't receive any pain killers
when he went to the emergency room.

A week for an MRI and another couple days for an orthopedic surgeon is
nothing. A couple months for each would be the story in many places, *if*
he was lucky.

You were either not close to dying, or you were quickly stabilized in the
emergency room. *Or*, which may be possible, you had a potful of illegal
immigrants clogging up the whole show.

For your information, Dr., I was only a few more hours from dead. My
surgeon also told me had I not had to wait that long, I would have
avoided emergency surgery and been able to have one elected surgery
instead of an emergency surgery then an elected one four months later.
I love how you and JimH think you know more about my misfortune than
I, or my surgeon does. Now about that quickly stabilized crap. You go
into the emergency room, you talk to an intake person, not a doctor,
not a nurse, a paper pusher. Then you wait. That intake person can do
nothing to you. I was there for better than two hours when someone
came to me. It was the financial lady wanting to know about my
insurance. I told her I couldn't get up, so she got me a wheelchair.
After talking with her, I asked the intake lady to PLEASE hurry, "I
think something is seriously wrong". A guy with a swollen foot went
before me!

Here, AVERAGE wait, almost 4 hours:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15487676/

You guys complain of waits of hours or days. Imagine waits of months and
more months, and then flying to another country to get yourself fixed.
--
You only use, and show the bad things.

The bad things are what makes it suck!
--
John H