Visit to Terem
Happy new week (shavua tov) everyone. This evening I spent some time at Terem, the local urgent care clinic with my little/middle girl. It was nothing major, just a possibly infected bloody nose, and I didn’t want to wait for tomorrow.
Apparently, nobody wanted to wait for tomorrow. I thought they opened at 7:45, but when I got there at 8 PM, the line was out the door, and all seats were filled. We had registered by 8:10 (and paid 20 shekels) and found a spot to stand. By 8:30 we had been seen by a nurse (temp, pulse and blood oxygenation) and sent back to the waiting room. Given a room inside at 9:10, seen by 9:40 and home by 10 PM.
The diagnosis was that everything is fine, but it would be a good idea to put some antibiotic ointment (which is prescription only) on it for a few days. It wasn’t a wasted trip, but it wasn’t easy for a 4 year old to stay awake, so she spent most of her time running in circles.
So, you might ask, what is the point of this post? Last summer I went to the ER near my parents for a sprained ankle. I got there around 5 and stayed until at least 11, and I wasn’t even talked to by a nurse for over 2 hours. I think that Terem does a good job, and I think that some hospitals would do well to emulate them.
By the way, when I was waiting for my release note, they said that they had seen 74 people by the time I was leaving. I’m not sure if that included the people still waiting, or those who had already finished. (I think the latter.)
Terem is AWESOME!!!! I went in on a Sat night thinking I had bronchitis, and despite incredibly long lines, the doc spoke & listened and all that and figured out what my own doctors had missed - I was having frequent asthma attacks.
Comment by triLcat — October 5, 2008 @ 12:06 am
Late comment here, as I have been away from the Net for several days. Emergency Rooms are generally used for the wrong purpose. They are designed for medical emergencies, not free health care for those that do not provide for themselves. They are also not intended for convenience, they are intended to save lives. I appreciate that I have awesome insurance and live in a city that has various types of urgent care clinics that are designed for convenience. I hope I will continue to have the opportunity to work for an organization that is allowed to provide me health/dental and vision insurance as one of the benefits for the work I do. I don’t want to be entitled simply because of my existence.
Comment by Jay — October 9, 2008 @ 12:21 am
Hmmm..firstly I agree with you that in a non-socialized medicine situation ERs are used inappropriately…I was at one in the US for a sprained ankle and a woman was there with her perfectly happy 5 year old daughter because she had a high fever. It was 10 at night, she should have been sleeping and maybe (only maybe) visiting a dr in the morning.
I don’t think urgent care is so much about convenience, but getting care when needed. My daughters’ doctors have reasonable hours, but it is nice that if I need help on a weekend or evening it is available.
Comment by Safranit — October 9, 2008 @ 10:24 pm