Eyes Wide Shut

Yesterday we succumbed into an emergency. My aunt next door was quivering and wasn't responding to us. Immediately she was sent to a hospital about 7 kilometers away. I was really surprised considering my aunt is a strong woman even at 62. It was such a revelation to me that every person doesn't have a clue about how healthy we are really and just at a sudden be crawling into a hospital. Life really is a mystery and more to death. Somehow, we are glad she is okay now and just this morning, my brother who was watching over her on the hospital exclaimed that she is okay.

I recalled my hospital rush yesterday and I just couldn't get a clue either to what I witnessed - it seems that there are more nurses and doctors than patients there. We were galloping on the halls of the hospitals and we couldn't see anybody around. The wards are in 4 beds but yet only one sets of the 4's are filled.

So why surprising? The hospital we admitted my aunt is a hospital labeled as "private". Here in the Philippines and even elsewhere, you can find private hospitals that give you most of your medical requirements for a good price as opposed to public hospitals who can give you free service yet you have to buy or supply the medical requirements that the hospital cannot provide. I always visit public hospitals and to an irony of much extent, you couldn't see a hallway but a crowded corridor of beds, patients unattended and yet unadmitted, nurses rushing to patients at a ratio of 1 is to 227, and doctors turning amnesiac due to the high doctor:patient ratio of 1:800. Good heavens, I couldn't understand why the line between wealthiness and poverty be kilometers apart!

I kept asking myself how this private hospital had so much space in it when the public hospitals are very very very very crowded. Could be the system we entrusted our fate be too far-fetched when government officials keep promising to provide more and more jobs? I want to keep the faith to the aristocratic system we chose but next week we'd be facing more price hikes as the expanded VAT will be in effect for the umpth time. Maybe the public hospitals would be much more crowded next week as many more Filipinos get into deep migraines as everything gets into higher value.

Mrs. Arroyo should stop looking outwards and ponder to his people for once - it just couldn't help sacrificing your own people for the price of a deniable utopic future for the country. You just shouldn't lead with eyes wide shut.

arzakem posted at 9:13:00 AM Access your PC from anywhere!!!