oh dear.

As we have moved further and further into the mess of a health care system I am finding myself ashamed to be a part of it. Grandparents are being discharged without any teaching of their new conditions, being forced to wait longer for important tests because they once had cancer. And those in charge say nothing is wrong with the system. How much are they being paid to say that, to stay oblivious? We have patients in our hospital stay for weeks on end when they are perfectly healthy. Rich old ladies who get lonely when their kids go out of town. Wives dumping husbands in hospital so they can vacation overseas. Children "needing to clean her house and buy groceries" before mom or dad can be discharged. Total and utter abuse of the system. Dr's on call leaving the hospital, greeting incoming patients as they go, so the ER nurse has no choice but to "call them back", which they then write on the ER sheet for an extra few hundred dollars for that visit. Patients coming to ER to get their blood pressure checked - "just thought I should", or for their "sore throat the last 3 weeks" or the "knee has been bothering me for a few years" or to "have my ears rinsed out." As much as the government and officials are the main and biggest part of the problem, it is then Dr's who are all about the $$, and then patients, who do not realize how much they are costing the system for their inappropriate visits to ER. Where do we go from here? I am afraid to find out.