BUSINESS AS USUAL

A friend of mine posted something on Facebook that caught my eye. It was a video clip showing two commentators discussing the case of a woman who had had a stroke. The hospital brought her to the only hospital within reach that could deal with her problem. Trouble was, the hospital turned her away because they were overloaded,  they said, and "diverted" her ambulance to another hospital, who, though nearby, didn't have the equipment to deal with her particular problem. Result: she became comatose and is now in a vegetative state. 

At the end of the clip, my friend -- who is employed by a group of hospitals -- commented that nowadays many people who ought to see the doctor because of the way they feel, are afraid to see him/her because they cannot afford to. They wait until they feel so bad they are sure they'll be admitted to the ER, sometimes filling it full to overflowing. My friend did not comment that the woman was black, a fact that possibly could have played a role in the hospital's diverting her ambulance. 

However that may have been, a life that might have been saved was destroyed. It was, in our broken medical system, BUSINESS AS USUAL.

What can we do about this? Get behind Single-Payer -- the only system that will guarantee healthcare for everybody -- not just the well-off.

Dio

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