Waiting in the Hospital - Complaining
I waited this morning at Tulane Medical Clinic today for a followup. Talking with a doctor, a blood test, an x-ray. I had to wait in several separate but identical waiting areas on two different floors of the building. Re-reading the Dalai Lama’s Art of Happiness over the long holiday weekend, I tried to apply the principles of the book to those around me; Who could come up with a better environment than a hospital to practice compassionate thought and being? I struck up conversations with those around me when I could and was struck head-on by a barrage of complaints about everything from the wait times to the lack of availablity for the doctor. I tried to get them to empathize with the doctors - tons of patients waiting to see them, trying to give quality time with each patient as quickly as possible, knowing that everyone is in pain. The people in the waiting rooms just kept complaining. Not that I blame them, really - it seems to be what most people are trained to do to get the attention they need.
Then I remembered the New Orleanians this past week who threw a birthday party for their pot hole. In New Orleans there are some that truly embrace the “Laissez Le Bon Temps Rouler” lifestyle and those that just end up complaining and leaving.
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Yeah, it’s depressing how inefficiantly streamlined a simple visit to the doctor has become, to the detriment of both the patient and the doctor/nurse. I’ve been going to this small clinic up on Esplanade (for a string of spider bites- typical New Orleans) called Little Doctors. The doctors there are very into personal, one-on-one care. It’s the type of place that, instead of tossing you a pill and telling you to call back if your symptoms get worse, will cover everything from your eating habits to stress in your personal life, and then give you their home phone number and tell you to call any time. And, in spite of all that, I’m still in and out of their in less than 30 minutes.
They even have a sliding pay scale for low-income patients, and are one of the few places left that freely admit patients that don’t have health insurance (which is just about everybody in this city). It’s pretty amzing that this place exists, and even more amazing that it needs to exist in the first place.