Posted on 04/23/2004 8:48:34 PM PDT by quidnunc
Montreal – A 21-year-old man died of appendicitis after he was refused treatment at an emergency clinic because he didn't have his provincial health card with him.
Gerald Augustin complained of stomach pains on Thursday but the receptionist at the St-Andre medical centre told him he had to return home to get his health card. He didn't make it back to the clinic in Montreal's east end.
About four hours later, a friend alerted police and called an ambulance for the man, who had a fatal attack of appendicitis in his apartment. He was pronounced dead in hospital.
Rouslene Augustin, administrator at the St-Andre clinic, said the man didn't appear to have any urgent symptoms when he came to the clinic.
"If this guy was an emergency case, we would accept him if he had his card or not," she said.
"I don't see what we did wrong. I'm not defending the clinic, we just followed the rules."
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at cnews.canoe.ca ...
Subhuman Government-drone Quote of the WeekLOL!
It's just gonna get worse too. I think there is an emerging trend for boutique hospitals or short stay centers. The patients who are being referred to those locations seem to be the better insured patients leaving only Medicare Medicaid and very ill high acuity patients to be cared for at traditional hospitals. With all of the attendant services needed for the very sick population they have high expenses and will not be recouping those with Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement rates.
The next 10 years are going to be very interesting.
Duh. This was an emergency clinic. Why else would the guy be there if it wasn't an emergency?
My stepdad died because a triage nurse blew him off, and my sister nearly died once for the same reason. My family is very stoic; we don't whine and cry like babies, and we seek to hide our weaknesses. In emergency situations, we tend to be calm and unemotional. I wonder if this guy was the same way, and that's why they blew him off.
I'm beginning to think that medical professionals need to take yet another "diversity" class: One that teaches them that there is a such thing as the polar opposite of a hypochondriac. Then maybe the next time someone walks up to a triage nurse and without wincing, calmly explains that they're in extreme pain, they won't be ignored the way my stepdad and my sister were.
It states that all emergency patients must be treated to the best of the hospital's capabilities regardless of the patient's ability or inability to pay.
In short, if this had happened in the U.S., the Federal Government would have descended upon the Hospital and all individuals involved like Attila the Hun.
The unvarying motto of the bureaucrat.
Identification and proof of residency. Health services are administered by the provinces.
I've actually thought about changing my last name. Funny story: I had family who lived in San Jose in the 70's. They're from my mom's side of the family, and look "black Irish"-jet black hair, dark eyes. Well back then, the colleges had racial quotas, so my cousin listed his race as Hispanic. Hahaha, he passed for Mexican and was accepted to San Jose State! At the time I thought it was the most dishonest thing I had ever heard.
Hey I know, I can play the race card. My kids are Iroquois on their paternal grandma's side. Sheesh...
Anyway, billing over at Harbor UCLA told me that I am qualified, and if I can't find my worker(I can never get her on the phone), then contact her supervisor, etc. She told me just to keep going up the food chain. We'll see. The last time I tried that, the phone battery went dead.
"Okay," he said. "I'll call Homicide."
Ohhhh that hospital! Yvonne Braithwaite Burke has one hell of a nerve.
The only reason why I mentioned Torrance Memorial is because my father died there. They were the most rude, hateful, nasty people I've ever seen in a medical setting. "Hurry up and die, we need the bed"! My recommendation is Harbor UCLA. They're county, but imo, they're the best. When my mom was admitted, they got a couple of decent sized chairs and blankets so I could stay with her. We knew she was dying, but they did everything to make her comfortable, and try and improve her condition. I said no to life support however, and they respected that.
My son was hit by a car a couple of years ago, and they transported him to Harbor. They were shorthanded, and so I had to hold my son down while the doctor irrigated his jaw. Bleeech. However, they were as efficient as possible (lots of cops roaming the halls-there was a gang shooting that night, or something), and they have 2 different ER's. One for adults, another for pediatrics. They were very efficient, though.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.