Hospital Views

I didn't post yesterday because I spent most of the day in a Phoenix hospital's waiting room while a dear friend had the onerous cancer removed from her system. I suppose I could have taken my computer and done some hospiblogging, as I've seen others do, but my computer has a gorgeous 17 inch screen that translates into about 9 pounds of carrying weight. Needless to say, I carry it back and forth from the office to the house and on long trips, but not much more. Anyway, my friend's surgery went well, and we are all encouraged about her future.

So this morning, in my hospital-addled state, I see this article about the new Gilbert Emergency hospital, and it starts this way:

Alishia Velasco limped into the new Gilbert Hospital and saw a doctor for her wrenched foot in less than 10 minutes.

Seven miles away and a world apart, at Banner Baywood Medical Center, the closest hospital to the Gilbert facility, 22 people faced a two-hour wait to see a doctor.

Why the difference?

Gilbert Hospital officials say it's because they are focused on emergency care. It may be the first center of its kind in the country to put emergency care first.

The typical hospital is a building with lots of beds for inpatients, a hotel for sick people that has an emergency room attached to it. Gilbert Hospital has it the other way around: It's a large emergency department that has a couple of beds where patients can stay overnight. The hospital's goal is to have patients like Velasco seen by a physician within 30 minutes of arrival; at other hospitals it can take half a day.

I read a similar article shortly before they opened, and had this information stored in the back of my mind. So when I experienced the onset of an urinary tract infection - something that most women suffer at some point in their lives - last Saturday evening, and the home remedies of drinking gallons of water and cranberry juice wasn't lessening the pain, I remembered that this new hospital was "seeing" people in 30 minutes, and so I asked The Mister to run me down there and thought I could get some antibiotic and be home snug in bed by midnight.

I must emphasize at the beginning of this anecdote that I was very pleased with the care, the folks working there were great, the atmosphere is lovely, and I recommend it without reservation and will no doubt use the facility sometime again. Having said that, my expectation of seeing a doctor within 30 minutes was off by about 300 percent. After an hour and a half, I suggested to The Mister that we bail out, but he pointed out that we were next in line, and sure enough, we were called next. Then there was another hour and a half wait for the lab results and the antibiotic to be prescribed. And we commented to each other as we left that the 3 hour visit in an emergency room on a weekend night is actually a stellar achievement for a hospital. The only reason I was feeling a little irritable, besides being in pain, was that my expectation had been raised. The staff was apologetic, and I think they are still getting the kinks worked out, and I'm sure that they will improve in time.

One of The Mister's maxims is "Underpromise, Overperform." He greatly dislikes it when someone promises him the moon and then, oh gee, so sorry, can only deliver swiss cheese. He would much prefer to know up front what the issues are, what the problems are, and if it's going to take 2 weeks instead of 2 days, just say so. And then when it takes one week, everybody is happy.

Expectations can be killer if not met. Or, quoting someone who thought of it way before I did, "hope deferred makes the heart sick." A good reminder.