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For his recent colonoscopy President Bush summoned five doctors (it only takes one) and a truckload of equipment to Camp David.
In a speech before a typically hand-picked audience in Ohio, Bush proclaimed: “ ... people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room.”
He can’t be serious, you say? Or is it just his chronic truth deficiency syndrome acting up again?
Health care in the emergency room? I don’t think so, unless he’s come up with a new definition of “emergency” and/or “health care.”
Health care includes more than treating broken arms and heart attacks.
Could one schedule a colonoscopy in an ER? How about management of chronic diseases, like hepatitis C or diabetes? Or prenatal health care? Can you get periodic cholesterol blood tests in an ER? Regular pediatric checkups for infants, or even regular physical exams for children and adults? How about chemotherapy and radiation for cancer sufferers?
No, Mr. President, you cannot get health care in an emergency room: you get emergency care in an emergency room. Somebody tell him.

Dorsey Hudson, Denver

READER COMMENTS

So Bush needed 5 doctors for his (fill in the joke here).

Seems to me most everything you mention is handled in free clinics all over the place. Some do require a small payment but none deny care in its absence. And the ER may not be the place for regular continued care for those conditions but it is used for all of them one time or another whether or not the reason for going to the ER was an emergency the ER is terrified that there will be a lawsuit if they actually enforce the provisions governing ER care. If they are not getting the health care they may be ignoring what is available. And the over load of doctors was probably so no one could tell Bush jokes and get all that credit.

dorsey dont worry for much longer as when hillary care takes over no citizen will have to worry about the er as they will all close for lack of payment, to meet their bills. from the government. ask your self why so many doctors are not taking any new medicare clients.
all politicians get this type of health care at our expense only no one makes a big deal out of it unless it happens to be Bush.

I had to go to an ER at one local hospital, city owned, in Colorado Springs for a serios dog bite that opened up my lower left Forearm. I sat there unattended for two hours bleeding like a stuck pig. I had to leave as antiseptic cleaning and stitchs were needed and fast. I took a cab across town to another hospital ER which was only slightly better than the first. In all it took 6 hours to get attention. This happened at 8 PM and it was 2 AM before the wound was taken care of. Because of the late hour , I could not get a hold of my Doctor, if it had happened during the day there would have been no problem, he would of taken care of me within 30 minutes or so. I found out that both hospitals had farmed out their ER units tp private sources and, were understaffed due to it being a weekend and the lateness of the hour, or so I was told by a nurse. All in all, it was a trying experience and it had been a life threatening circumstance, more than likely I would be writing this form the hereafter.

Sorry for the typos, I'm on my second cup of coffee now. I'll get better here in a minute or two.

There are many instances in which the clinics can do an adequate job; there are also many instances when people find out too late that the clinics were not up to the task. We don't have the clinics because they can do as good a job as the expensive hospital complexes with all that technology, equipment, and specialists. We have them because in our health care system we can't afford to provide poor and sometimes moderate income people with the kind of health care available to others. They are a product of a "let them eat cake" mentality.

Truth,

"let them eat cake.."

In that case I've been on hardtack.
There will always be a difference in the quality of goods or services depending on the amount paid for them and the number of people receiving, or in line to receive them. Health care is no exception. I am poor and many times I have had to spend many times the trouble explaining to a doctor that I can't afford the co-pay unless it is a definite medical need for that particular doctor to see me. The nephrologists are the worst. Every diagnosis and treatment from them is a result of a general physical exam and medical tests. Took me the better part of this year to convince them that if they want to be heard they will first listen.

Clinics are the basic line of medical care for almost everyone. Of course we call them our doctor's office. Diagnosis and ongoing treatment take place there. People have given me a number of very good reasons for not going to clinics the most common one being that they work for a living and the doctor/clinic isn't open on weekends or evenings. Another result of corporate based health care instead of individual. Doubt me? Check out the hours for Lasik and plastic surgery clinics. The market in those services is driven by patient pocket payments so they will arrange themselves to suit the demand. Get rid of business tax advantages over the individuals and keep the free clinics open later and on weekends. See if we end up with better care and happier people. Of course if Hilary wins all bets are off. We won't have any money to bet with.

dorsey,another dumb-ass letter from a dumb-ass liberal.

My daughter was at the pool over the weekend.She slipped in a puddle of water and landed on her wrist. It swelled up pretty fast. Instead of taking her to an ER which would cost us an arm and a leg in insurance cost ,we found an after hours clinic open on Sunday with an ex-ray machine. They took our insurance so it only cost a $50 co-pay for urgent care. She was in and out of there within an hour. Luckily it was only sprained.

There are other options on the weekends besides the ER.

Look in the phone book for clinics and urgent care facilities that are open on weekends and usually until midnight for after hours clinics., during the week also.

Truth
what are your personal health care costs? multiply by 2. There you have provided for a needy person's health care!!!!! Now if everyone who feels the same as you does the same we have solved the healthcare issue and it only doubled your cost but left mine alone!!!!!! You get what you want , I get what I want. Or aren't there enough people who care?

Anxiously await the joke elicited by Sharon; in the meantime, perhaps they could give Bush a taste of papal hypocrisy such as the nuns administer as Nevirapine marketed as Viramune to 80 women out of one million in Zambia who have AIDS which causes "fatal liver damage" and other "serious adverse effects," with the pope calling for abstinence which his priests don't practice and forfeiture of condoms.

If it wasn't so serious it would be a joke. Perhaps one can find a joke in the pope with his hand out receiving $millions for "Local nuns provide AIDS victims hope," when in fact the nuns do far more harm. If priests can be dissuaded from having sex can non-celibate be persuaded to abstain? I now wait for a joke on Bush's down-south concern.

"Allen Campbell:

All in all, it was a trying experience and it had been a life threatening circumstance, more than likely I would be writing this form the hereafter."

Allen, had it been life threatening they would have sen you first and someone else with a dog bite would have had to wait.

Get with the program. The ER is the last place on earth you want to be "First in Line."

...the cynicism of the left never fails to amaze me.

Mr. Campbell, didn`t you know you should have had the phone numbers and addresses of after hours clinics posted on your wall? And a copy should be kept in your wallet if you are hurt away from home.

So there you were dripping blood on the rug while you figured out where to go. Don`t get hurt after clinic hours, that shows a lack of personal responsibility.

This post is written in jest, in conservospeak, where they drip with concern for the sick and injured.

Cynicism of the "left" with a prez who doesn`t know the difference between clinic and ER care.?

Having done a rotation through the ER when I was in the midst of paramedic "school" I will be happy to concur with Colorado Dave, Mr. Campbell. The ABC's of the ER are simple. If you have any difficulty with Airway, Breathing, or Circulation, you will be a priority. A dog bite in the ER, will not kill you. In fact, you most likely could have handled it yourself, with some Neosporin, a bandage, and a good bar of soap. If you thought you needed stitches, a butterfly bandage works almost as well, without having to return for the removal of the sutures. Stitches, typically just reduce the scarring. For the most part.

As for bleeding like a "stuck pig" I am going to assume you are being dramatic. If you have ever actually seen a pig slaughtered, you would understand what "bleeding like a stuck pig" looks like. My guess is you were bleeding, and by the time you got to the ER, IF you had been applying pressure to the wound, and not looking at it every minute, you would have clotted and ceased bleeding completely. That is what direct pressure will do. It causes the capillaries to close.

Sorry you wasted so much time though, and I hope your injury is healing well, and that the dog wasn't rabid.

I also would be fascinated to understand what ER you visited that had been "farmed out to private sources." I have never heard of that before, and would find it VERY interesting, as most hospitals are either run by or owned by some corporate insurance company (Kaiser, Humana, or are non-profits that are run by religious organizations (think in Denver Old St. Lukes, and St. Joes). And since you really only have two options for Hospitals in Colorado Springs with Memorial Hospital, and Penrose-St. Francis (Memorial is owned by the City of Colorado Springs, and St. Francis is part of the Centura Health Systems), I really don't know what ER you visited that would have been "farmed out." Please, help me understand...

Paramedic sure knows what he/she is talking about. Refreshing to see a professional presenting first-hand experience and facts. Thanks for doing a job some of us would not have the stomach for.

At least Bush didn't shut down the LA Airport so he could receive a haircut from the barber of the stars. Clinton shut it down for over four hours so he could indulge in his fantasy on the tarmac in Air Force One.

Fed regulation prohibits any planes from landing or taking off while the President is on his plane at a commercial airport. So while Clinton first waited for the arrival, and then enjoyed a celebrity barber's handiwork, thousands of others waited in lock down or circled the airport above, or were even diverted to other airports. So, who was more "inconsiderate?"

Anon at 3:10 what, you taking a poll or asking us to vote?

The hospital is more "inconsiderate", the man needed help, not a flight.

Apropos of nothing 3:10 brings up the Clinton haircut myth.

According to a June 30, 1993, Newsday article headlined, "Bill's Coif: The Myth; Runway trim delayed no one":

"The story was that planes were kept circling as President Bill Clinton had his hair clipped on Air Force One at Los Angeles airport last month.

The runway haircut by Beverly Hills stylist Cristophe became such a metaphor for perceived White House arrogance that the president himself felt compelled to apologize for the reported flight delays.

But the reports were wrong.

According to Federal Aviation Administration records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the May 18 haircut caused no significant delays of regularly scheduled passenger flights - no circling planes, no traffic jams on the runways.

Commuter airlines that fly routes reportedly affected by the president's haircut confirmed they have no record of delays that day.

The FAA records, generated by the regional Air Route Traffic Control Center, show that an unscheduled air taxi flight had the only delay attributed to the closure of two runways for an hour in anticipation of Air Force One's departure. The air taxi took off 17 minutes after leaving the gate -- two minutes late, by FAA accounting."

So back to the matter at hand, which is Bush's claim that health care is available in emergency rooms, almost the stupidest thing I've ever heard, and Momma Y's claim that colonoscopy and chemotherapy are readily available in free clinics; the second stupidest.

Where? Name them. Not clinics that accept medicaid, free.

Even for patients with Medicaid, the only pain management clinics in town are CU and Denver Health, and they have a 90 day approval period during which they'll decide if they'll help you.

In Fast Times at Ridgemont High the free clinic was $150.

Will you ever get tired of bashing Bill Clinton and now you will have Hillary "Rotten" Clinton to bash according to the great one Mark Levin.

Deicide Corner. “To what excesses will men not go for the sake of a religion in which they believe so little and which they practise so imperfectly!” -- Jean de La Bruyere

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