Personal blog of christian
writer & fallible mom
Katy McKenna Raymond
in Kansas City, Missouri
Katy is represented by
Rachelle Gardner at
WordServe Literary
Read more Katy at
LateBoomer.net
Recent Posts
- Soul Train
- Live Out Your Dream And Discard The Box
- Tears In A Bottle
- From The Young Mom I Once Was, To You
- I Can’t Help Falling
- What A Difference Ten Years Makes
- The Next Best Thing To Robert Redford
- The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
- Where Have All The Years Gone
- Fun With Kiki Cullen
- Stuck On Mom
- Ten Years Later, Our Girls From Northern Ireland Remembered
- The Thrift of Grief
- Job Security
- The Party’s Over
Syndicate
E me at katy @ ngenius.com
When All Else Fails, Change Hospitals?
I wonder if it bodes well that two blog posts in a row have titles that end in question marks, but I digress. Wait a minute. Can I digress before I’ve started? I just don’t know anymore. But if I can, I do. So there.
By all indications, it’s morning. It’s light outside. Carrie left for work, I know. I stumbled into the kitchen and made coffee. Did I mention it’s light outside?
Doug and I drove separate cars last night, just because. I was in my pajamas when the call came that we were to meet the ambulance at the hospital, so I wasn’t sure how long I’d hold up.
The last thing I said to Doug before we each jumped in a car was, “You’d better do some fast thinking. If I were you, I’d make an executive decision to switch hospitals, now.”
He ended up redirecting the paramedics to a hospital clear across town—45 minutes from us. But at least the ER doctor took enough of an interest in her case to pursue getting her admitted. Have any of you tried to get admitted to a hospital recently? It’s no small trick.
The deal is that most of the primary care physicians in big cities seem to no longer have admitting privileges at the hospitals. In other words, if you show up in an ER with heart attack symptoms or whatever, they are NOT going to call your doctor to discuss your situation. Each hospital has its own staff of specialists and generalists, and it will be one of them who decides your fate.
Remember the old days, when your tried and true doc would visit you every morning in the hospital, while making his rounds? No such thing any more, folks. You will see all docs you’ve never seen before, who have no stake in your past or your future, no relationship with you at all, unless you’ve been there just last week, in which case they’ll want to dispense with you at the first possible opportunity, as you appear suspiciously like a liability.
Yeah. It’s like that.
Doug and I recently switched doctors, and we LOVED our old doc. But a couple of months ago, Doug’s sister was admitted to the hospital and we went to see her the next morning, a Saturday. While we were there, who should walk in but her very own actual doctor! And, it turns out, he has admitting privileges at an actual hospital! Unheard of around these parts. We liked everything about him, so we switched.
I can’t help but believe the continuity of care suffers tremendously when a patient is thrown in with a whole group of hospital-employed docs who are not vested in him as a person. I spend inordinate amounts of time and effort establishing good, solid relationships with those in whom I entrust the care of my loved ones so that when they need attention, the doctors at least recognize our names.
Anyway, last night we started over with Adele. We had no choice. Now we need to get up and go meet a whole new group of doctors, and hope that interest in her as a person is sustained long enough to provide some much-needed answers.
Katy, the more I read your blog and the older I get, the more I pray for good health until the moment Jesus takes me home. My mom’s doctor has admitting privileges, but I see a nurse practitioner, so if I have to go to the hospital, she won’t be my caregiver, I’m sure. Which is too bad because she has cared for me about 20 years and knows me inside and out.
Robin
Posted by Robin Lee Hatcher on 12/19/06 at 09:44 AMRobin, I pray your prayers are answered! And I’m so happy that your mom has done so well.
The attending doc here actually called Doug this morning after seeing Adele. She can’t answer any questions about her condition or history, but the docs at the other hospital did not communicate with the family at all.
Right now, I’m sitting here in the waiting room, while Adele has a CT scan of her head. The nurse has been kind and helpful, and when I said that the kids need to be facing facts about Adele needing more care than she can get in assisted living, she volunteered to send a social worker in still today. The other hospital, over the course of three stays in nearly as few weeks, never sent a social worker to offer advice.
They may come to no diagnosis here. Several docs have already said as much. Sometimes, these repeated runs to the hospital with an elder simply serve to open the eyes of the family decision makers—the younger ones—us. She is “happy” where she lives, but she isn’t safe—at least, not now. So—hard decisions must be made. It is, sadly, the way of things.
Adele is a strong believer, for which we are all so grateful! Thank you, Robin, for your message here.
Posted by Katy on 12/19/06 at 10:35 AMAwesome Article, Really very informative posting which provide lots of informative in all the regards.thanks for the wonderful posting.
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