The Medicine We Deserve: I've seen it with my own eyes

[Mike 03]

Both my sister and my father are being cared for by the Mayo Hospital/Clinic, and it's not because there is anything special about them. Both of them are just insured like most insured people (I'm not insured), just basic insurance, nothing fancy. But I wish everyone could see how great medical care can be.

When you walk into these hospitals, it is like walking into a Hyatt Regency Hotel. You look up and there is an atrium lobby. There are musicians performing. There are bookstores and cafes and buffets.

Then you take the (clearly marked) elevators upstairs to where your loved one is, and you walk into a private room that has its own private bathroom.

The nurses know the name of who you are there to visit and where he/she is. They don't have to check a chart or computer. They just know, because they care. They can picture her face.

And you go into the room and if it's lunch time, they are eating food that they can stand to eat (maybe not super healthy, but it sure smelled good): Soup, Beans/Chili, Applesauce, Coke (I know, not great).

And there is this incredible nurse who is asking her about her appetite, who takes her blood pressure, temperature and oxygen saturation level. And he's so cool that he answers technical medical questions from the visitors and even gave me the same tests he gave my sister, just for fun, and it amazed me that he was in no rush.

He was in no rush to get to the next patient, because the emphasis here is not on speed but quality.

And I can tell you, you don't have to be a celebrity to get this kind of care. I'm not exactly sure how you get it. But it's here. It exists. And they are there for you if you are seventy and have Medicaid, like my father, or 40 and have some pretty regular, not great insurance, like my sister.

The question is: How do we provide every state and most locations in this entire country with these sorts of resources?

There are only a few Mayo Hospitals, and I know there are other major health centers like this, such as Kenneth Anderson, Harvard, NYU, Cedar Sinai, etc...

But what I want to understand is why some people get into these places and others don't.

It's a crucial question, and I don't understand it.

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Harvard Hospitals Are Also Excellent

The doctors and administrators have to be as interested in providing good care as they are in making money. I've worked with docs from Mayo and all of the local Harvard hospitals, and, by-and-large, they really care about improving health care. Most other docs... not so much (although some are great).

[BrklynLiberal]

2. Money may not buy happiness, but it sure can buy health.

There is a saying I heard on the occasion of Rose Kennedy's 100th birthday...

WEALTH PRESERVES. GREAT WEALTH PRESERVES INDEFINITELY.

[leftyclimber]

3. The Cleveland Clinic is the same way.

My father-in-law is being treated for cancer there. Weekly high tea for the patients, pianists in the lobby, freshly made sushi in the cafeteria, the works. The standards of care and service are impeccable.

His doc is the head of oncology. FIL had to wait 30 minutes for a test and his doctor was PISSED. FIL didn't think there was anything weird about it, but his doc was adamant: "We don't do things that way. This is the Cleveland Clinic."

Well, if they don't do things that way, and if they treat everyone like gold who comes in there, why can't we set up a system where everyone is treated that well? The standard shouldn't be who can pay or who has insurance. It should be who needs care. Period.

[Sal Minella]

4. Everybody pays in, and those who need care get it. What a concept.