Thursday, January 31, 2013

Unsanitary ER Restroom

Yesterday my mom had a visit to her specialist in another city. She has visited this doctor a few times the last year, and every single time I have been along as chauffeur we have had an interesting experience.

This time my mom ended up in the Emergency Room at the hospital. Her blood pressure was waaay too high, and neither the specialist nor her general practitioner trusted it. So off to the ER we went. On the way, we rode in the elevator with a former English teacher of mine. Seeing someone who taught me over 40 years was interesting, but there was more to come.

After getting all set up behind the curtained cubicles in the ER, we waited. Luckily my mom's blood pressure went South (even before medication), and she was visited twice by a very kind and communicative doctor who seemed convinced that maybe Mom had eaten too much salty food the day before. Others in our family are sure that she has a bad case of the "white jacket syndrome." Whatever reason, she was checked out after about four hours and given the okay to go home.

She says she feels fine today, by the way.

Back to the ER situation. If you have ever been there, you know that there is no privacy. Our neighbors heard our conversations, and they even commented on what we said to each other. We tried not to comment on what they were saying to each other, but what a couple of "whackos." The poor woman professed to be in severe pain, but in the meantime she and "Daddy" analyzed the health care plans (they do not have any!), the end of time with our present government, and their own personal finances (not much to brag about).

After listening to that drivel, I tried out the nearest WC (toilet). Dirty! It was dirtier than most roadside service station toilets I have used. And they are far from clean. It was a shocking experience. (The ER neighbors let us all know they were surprised when they heard me tell my mom.)

Now I plan to tell the hospital CEO how dirty his ER toilets are. Hope I never have to go back there to see if he responds to complaints.

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