E.R. and There

Last night I had to take my wife, Cynthia, to the E.R. Nothing serious, really but her rashes from an allergic reaction had become unbearable and worrisome. The nearest hospital to our home was the Quezon Memorial Medical Center (QMMC). It being a government-run hospital my expectations were, to be honest, quite low. Imagine my surprise at the efficiency we experienced.


As soon as we entered, we were greeted by the receptionist and asked to sign in the logbook. He then ushered us to the registrar (sitting next to him). He advised me to take care of the registration of the patient while he led Cynthia directly to the Physician on Duty. Based on Cynthia's description of how she felt and looking at her red rashes, Dr. Bayani decided that a shot of epinephrine was necessary. A minute later the attending nurse gave Cynthia the prescribed injection. We thought that was it but the doctor suggested Cynthia to stay put (she was sitting in front of her) for further observation because the medicine might cause some palpitations and/or tremors. About half an hour later and my wife not feeling any side effects, the good doctor gave us the discharge order. She handed us the bill and asked us to proceed to the cashier. Looking at the bill we were amazed that she only charged us P300 for the medicine! No doctor's fees nor consultation fees! And because Cynthia had her Senior Citizen's ID card with her, the final bill came down to P240 (about $5.60)!!


Admittedly the facilities were not as you would expect an Emergency Room to be in terms of equipment  and privacy. Being a government hospital most of the patients being brought in are mostly indigent. Yet I never saw any discrimination even when more affluent patients were admitted.


One day later and Cynthia was feeling a lot better with most of the rashes having disappeared already. Per Dr. Bayani's advice, my wife needs to continue with her medication (anti-histamine pills) for the next five days just to make sure that the allergic reaction completely goes away.


In the U.S. when a patient goes to the E.R. would be asked to wait, unless in a life-threatening situation, while he or she gets registered which includes verifying if he or she has medical insurance, usually taking an average of an hour.  


Needless to say, we were very pleased with our experience with a Philippine government-run E.R. facility.  May I say again that we only spent $5.60. I think that's hard to beat.

Retirees

A meme has been going around Facebook wherein photos are shown to depict "what others think I do" and "what I actually do" based on certain (usually "job") categories. Since nothing was made for retirees like me, I thought I'd create one. Hope you like it.