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Twilight Zone Time -
Submitted for your perusal. I was just dinking around with Google news this afternoon, searched on 'Hemet' - and these two stories jumped out at me:
The obstetrics unit at Hemet Valley Medical Center will close, at least temporarily on Oct. 14 because the two obstetricians who had provided legally-required, constant on-call coverage have notified the hospital they will no longer do so as of Oct. 16, officials announced.
"We don't know how long this suspension will be," said Jerri Randrup, vice president of communications and marketing for Valley Health System, the public hospital district that operates the hospital.
She urged pregnant women to talk to their physicians and make arrangements to give birth in other hospitals.
I know this facility well. Well, I should. I was born there. Mom worked there for over 35 years.
It's also a district hospital - or was, I really can't say anymore. It's at least 30 miles away from any other facilities. Yes, really.
It's also very close to a number of Indian reservations - and I can recall the whole 'illegals having babies on our tax dollars' - since I can remember. This is not four years, eight years - shit, even twenty years. I can go back nearly forty years on this issue - and you know what?
Never, not EVER - have I heard of this hospital shutting down or not being able to provide services.
Illegals. Phaugh. We can't even - or are unwilling - to provide the basic FOR OURSELVES. If someone can give me a good case showing that someone got care that wasn't available to anyone walking around, I'd like to know. Because when I was born - WE COULD.
Someone please tell me. WHAT HAPPENED. I just want to know.
And the corker?
Hemet fire stations have been designated as "safe havens" for desperate mothers to drop off their unwanted babies, no questions asked.
The City Council has approved a resolution making all five Hemet fire stations available to receive infants who otherwise might be abandoned in a dangerous location, such as a Dumpster or a back alley, where they could get hurt or killed.
"Women who are in this situation are already down a desperate road," said Hemet fire Capt. Laura Fielding, who championed the resolution's adoption in Hemet. "This just gives them the option of doing the right thing for the child."
I guess if you could find someplace safe to have a kid -
Let me also remind folks of one pertinent fact about having a baby in California. More babies are born on Medi-Cal than any other method of payment, including not having any coverage at all - and having a baby is the number one reason ANYONE uses a hospital. Not being able to handle this service? It would be like McDonalds being unable to serve hamburgers - I kid you not.
We have done a lot to make it possible for people to have babies - safely, and affordably. At least - that was the case in 1996, when I worked in the business.
Somebody tell us all what happened. We need to know. We need to make sure it stops, reverses and gets fixed.
Because this - this SUCKS.
The obstetrics unit at Hemet Valley Medical Center will close, at least temporarily on Oct. 14 because the two obstetricians who had provided legally-required, constant on-call coverage have notified the hospital they will no longer do so as of Oct. 16, officials announced.
"We don't know how long this suspension will be," said Jerri Randrup, vice president of communications and marketing for Valley Health System, the public hospital district that operates the hospital.
She urged pregnant women to talk to their physicians and make arrangements to give birth in other hospitals.
I know this facility well. Well, I should. I was born there. Mom worked there for over 35 years.
It's also a district hospital - or was, I really can't say anymore. It's at least 30 miles away from any other facilities. Yes, really.
It's also very close to a number of Indian reservations - and I can recall the whole 'illegals having babies on our tax dollars' - since I can remember. This is not four years, eight years - shit, even twenty years. I can go back nearly forty years on this issue - and you know what?
Never, not EVER - have I heard of this hospital shutting down or not being able to provide services.
Illegals. Phaugh. We can't even - or are unwilling - to provide the basic FOR OURSELVES. If someone can give me a good case showing that someone got care that wasn't available to anyone walking around, I'd like to know. Because when I was born - WE COULD.
Someone please tell me. WHAT HAPPENED. I just want to know.
And the corker?
Hemet fire stations have been designated as "safe havens" for desperate mothers to drop off their unwanted babies, no questions asked.
The City Council has approved a resolution making all five Hemet fire stations available to receive infants who otherwise might be abandoned in a dangerous location, such as a Dumpster or a back alley, where they could get hurt or killed.
"Women who are in this situation are already down a desperate road," said Hemet fire Capt. Laura Fielding, who championed the resolution's adoption in Hemet. "This just gives them the option of doing the right thing for the child."
I guess if you could find someplace safe to have a kid -
Let me also remind folks of one pertinent fact about having a baby in California. More babies are born on Medi-Cal than any other method of payment, including not having any coverage at all - and having a baby is the number one reason ANYONE uses a hospital. Not being able to handle this service? It would be like McDonalds being unable to serve hamburgers - I kid you not.
We have done a lot to make it possible for people to have babies - safely, and affordably. At least - that was the case in 1996, when I worked in the business.
Somebody tell us all what happened. We need to know. We need to make sure it stops, reverses and gets fixed.
Because this - this SUCKS.
no subject
There's a couple of things I want to bring your attention to.
One, when I worked at that hospital (and I did, on two different occasions, two different summers), two OBs would have been considered a small practice.
Only two left? There's hardly anything political (unless you consider the level of malpractice litigation in OB practices political) about it.
When I was born, the town had less than 20,000 residents. We didn't get a McDonald's in town until I was in High School.
Checking the wikipedia entry, the numbers look really low - I blame that on the fact everything is counted within the city limits - which is a very VERY small part of the geography. I never lived within the city limits - ever - for example. Most people don't.
They're saying the population has doubled - at least - since then. And there's only two OBs - and they're tired, worried about liability and find the costs unacceptable.
Someone tell me how that happened. We provided really good care with a smaller tax base, to a whole lot more people with more providers.
Tell me what happened to THAT. I want to know.