by Christina Pasterz
Greater Phoenix Tea Party Patriots
October 31, 2009
In 1972, I went to work in a hospital run by the government, the Pima County Hospital, in Tucson AZ. It was an experience beyond anything one could imagine.
I had just graduated from a nursing program and this was my first job. I sought this job because I had been a patient in the County system, while going to school and felt it was my way of giving back some of what I had received.
Working for the county was like working on the “Good Ship Hope.” We often improvised for supplies and medical equipment because we just couldn’t get it. We’d run out of urinary cath kits and would make due with what we could find, often using foley catheters (made for permanent catheterization), and various other supplies, which were more expensive than cath kits, but were all we had available at the time.
Those were the days…money was tight during the 70’s…(thank you Jimmy Carter) and we would deliver babies in the ER or crack a chest in there, in order not to call in the OR crew from home, which meant overtime.
This is the reality of government run health care….I’ve seen it from both sides; as a patient and as an employee. Seeing it from both perspectives I can honestly say the American people who are clamoring for “free” health care, would cringe if they were subjected to the reality of what government run means in consequences to our standard of care!
Recently, my Canadian born husband and I returned from Canada, where we are dealing with the Canadian, government run health care system, for treatment for his mom. She needs two new knees. Here, she would have had them 6 years ago, when first diagnosed with “bone on bone” in both knees. In Canada, they treated her with non steroidal anti inflamitories…ie “Ibuprofen and the likes.” She would try a new NSAID, develop side effects and the meds would be switched out.
About 2 months ago, she had symptoms of blood in her stools. Here, she would have been worked up IMMEDIATELY. There, her MD put her on IRON!!!! Then sent her home. A few weeks later, she vomitted blood and ended up in an ER. She was found to have a low potassium. The ER Dr. who talked with my husband said they were going to keep her in the ER and try to get her sodium up. They also felt she had a urinary tract infection, because she had a temp. and some abdominal pain. After laying in the ER for 10 hours, they finally did a chest x-ray. They didn’t have access to an MRI or CAT scanner in the hospital. She was found to have “free air” under her lungs on the X-ray. It took the ER 14 hours to figure out she had a perforated ulcer and her stomach contents were leaking into her abdominal cavity.
Ms. Pasterz’s article continues here.
