I Think This is a Good Idea and It Might Save Your Life

The staph scares me as much as the staff in hospitals.

Inside Hospital Joke: Picture Marvin Gaye all spangled up, singing, "Oh MRSA MRSA me...oh things ain't what they used to be..."

Hospitals have become some of the greediest corporate entities of our day.

I remember last year I made an appointment for a worrisome matter that turned out to be nothing. But in my haste to get an appointment, I ended up going with the doctor who could see my sooner and tried to call back to cancel the other appointment several times and could not get through. Then (in carelessness and the worry of the hour, I admit) I forgot the other appointment.

Soon thereafter I received a notice (certified letter!) that I was banned from a whole series of hospitals and doctors because I had been "doctor shopping."

I thought "doctor shopping" is what junkies do when they go from doctor to doctor with separate prescriptions. Since when does one example of absent-mindedness equal a junkie with three prescriptions for Vicodin in his back pocket?

I appealed this and they rejected my appeal and the representative of this money-making entity later said to me on the phone in a consolatory manner, "Look...it's not like if you're dying they probably wouldn't treat you if you walked in the door."

LOL. "Probably."

So I realized we had taken a new turn towards even greater greed and maximizing of profit.

In Harrisburg one entity, PINNACLE HEALTH, has pretty much monopolized health care and gobbled up all the hospitals one by one. So if you end up on their "bad side" (and boy do they have one!) in a medical encounter, then you are on the bad side of all of them, basically.

I'm just very fortunate to be healthy (knocking on wood) so I haven't had any dealings with them since that time.

But talk about intimidation tactics that ought to be illegal.

If I were a member of the idle rich, I would have probably investigated legal avenues of redress over that experience. I can't believe they can get away with things like that. And if they're doing that, what other sorts of excesses are they now getting away with?

So if they are going to hold us "accountable" for imaginary sins, they should be held accountable for REAL sins.

Why don't they stop killing people with staph, for one?

Here is the email in which I received that link this morning. I don't remember ever consciously signing up for this mailing list but sometimes they do send some good, pertinent info.

If it was another who enrolled me in this, thanks for the favor!

Most things I delete, but this one seems targeted on some real concerns that jibe with mine!

Dear William,

It seems basic that our hospitals would make sure doctors and nurses are competent in patient safety. But there is an epidemic of medical errors plaguing the health care system.

Demand a mandatory and public reporting system designed to encourage hospital accountability »

Ten years ago, the Institute of Medicine sounded the alarm about the widespread medical errors in a groundbreaking report call "To Err is Human." The report led to a rush of congressional hearings and promises of reform – but little progress has been made in the decade since.

While a network of hospital infection reporting systems is emerging, 24 states do not require infection reporting. Systematic improvements in patient safety won't happen until there are national standards.

Urge the Obama Administration to initiate common sense measures to save countless lives and dollars from preventable medical errors »


Thanks for taking action!

Natasha
Care2 Campaign Team




Demand Accountability of Harrisburg Hospitals »


In the past ten years, the U.S. has failed to prevent medical harm. As a result, millions of Americans have died or been injured, and tens of billions of health care dollars have been wasted on treating preventable illnesses.

Forward to a friend >>
Read the petition >>





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