Three cheers for USC/LA County Hospital

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I visited today to have a broken wrist tended to. I never visited the old facility, and it had a bad reputation, but the new one is amazing and state of the art. I observed people being treated with respect, efficiency, and with their medical needs as the primary concern. Young, fresh faced USC trained doctors in the ER. They seemed like they were having the time of their lives!

Obama would do well to look at the facility as an example, if he wants to help those without insurance. I was very satisfied with the service, and I have been to a number of very well regarded private hospitals, including Cedars and Glendale Memorial.

At a private hospital, they throw a splint and refer to an orthopedist. At County, they wheel you down the hall to the 24 hour orthopedic ward and fix you right up with a specialist. The sheer scale of the place lets them have all this going on 24/7. Simply amazing. It’s a little McDonald’s in the way they mass process patients, but I think that may improve the quality because there is obviously a process.

People complain about the waiting times, but triage is triage and you are going to wait in line behind someone who is bleeding more any where you go.

I think the secret sauce is the public/private partnership with USC, and in smaller cities an institution like USC may not be an option, but having an esteemed private university with it’s reputation on the line to manage the place is an incredible advantage.

Financially, they get some paid by the county (I am guessing), and they mix in people with private insurance, and Medi-Cal (California medicare), so it all balances out.

I gotta say, I am concerned about the proposed health plan, and don’t really think the government should take such a large role, but I do believe that we should have a good viable option for those without private insurance. County/USC should be a model for what can be done.

And to all those out there who have good private insurance through your employer, no matter what you think, when you are deemed expendable, you will be at a place, well, hopefully as nice as County/USC.

2

When I was getting my EMT training (at UCLA :p! to USC!) I did my ER stint at Brotman. (This was convenient, as it was only a few blocks from my apartment.) A Black man came in with a gunshot wound to the arm. It was minor (the bullet went through his cousin first, as they sat in a car), so the doctor said to the nurse, 'Let’s get him stabilised and ship him off to County. The nurse said, ‘He has insurance, Doctor.’ ‘Oh. I guess we can take care of him here!’ I was taken aback that the doctor would A) assume the man had no insurance, and B) send him 12 or 13 miles through L.A. traffic when there’s a guy with a bullet in his arm right there! See, County is where the uninsured get sent to.

One advantage to County being the go-to hospital for the poor/uninsured is that it gets a fair share of trauma cases, so they have lots and lots of experience with triage and injuries and wounds.

3

And I am saying that is not such a bad thing. From what I saw, it is one of the best hospitals around! If I had insurance, I would choose it. I think it’s that good. Anyway, I just wanted to register my appreciation. Although I am fairly conservative, fiscally, I do believe that if you need medical treatment, you ought to get it. I think LAC/USC is a great example of how to handle that.

4

My prediction: USC will win the next 6 straight National Championships in College Football!

I have be fortold by devine… something.

Oh, and :stuck_out_tongue: to anything UCLA, Notre Dame or Texas! And them damn Beavers, Too!

5

They’ve had a lot of practice.