Hospitable conditions

Wendy had a procedure done yesterday. Everything is fine. Here are some observations from the non-participant. I now know why they call them patients. All you do is wait. We get to the parking lot a little before 8 am and it is already crowded. Fortunately, we find a spot. When we walk through the doors we are greeted by a woman who asks where we need to be. She takes us to the receptionist who gives us a number. Then as soon as we get to the lobby for day surgery our number is called for Wendy to check in. The check in process is not bad and the person gives Wendy her bracelet, which is checked at every place.

We proceed to another lobby for the actual day surgery wing. There Wendy is given a pager. We wait about 30 minutes. It goes off. A nurse takes Wendy back to prepare her for the procedure. I am still in the lobby, with the pager. Another random assortment of minutes pass. The pager goes off again. I go to the desk and the person says, "Go through that door." I walk in and it is busy. There are patients behind doors, nurses with carts, and doctors in scrubs. I go up to the desk and Wendy sees me through her door. So Wendy and I wait in her tiny room for about 20 minutes. Then the anesthesiologist and crew come in. Each member asks the same questions. The doctor performing the procedures come in for two minutes.

They are ready to take Wendy back for the procedure. So I return to the waiting room. Fortunately, I had a book. So I was not too bored. When the procedure was over, it took about 45 minutes, the pager went off again. So I go to the desk. The doctor is on the phone. To me, the reception sounded crappy. The volume was so low. The doctor is trying to tell me results about a procedure that I know nothing about. Fortunately, everything is okay and it went well.

Then I wait another 45 minutes while Wendy is recovering. The pager goes off one last time. I proceed back behind the door. This time Wendy is dressed in her clothes and in a room with just a curtain. You can hear other patients being addressed with their discharge orders. A nurse comes back to talk to Wendy about what she can and cannot do. Then I am sent to get the car and Wendy rolls out to me.

Not too offend anyone in the healthcare industry, but the hospital is not where I want to me. It is busy place. All the staff was nice and knowledgeable. Most of the patients where the shuffling elderly, who looked like they were going to fall over. Wendy summed it up best when she compared it to a train station. Talk about all a bored.