You never want to visit a hospital emergency room,
especially if the patient is your child.
Last night my wife, Karin, and I had to take our son into
the Mass General Hospital emergency room, he had a bad cough and was having
trouble breathing.
The last time I visited the Mass General Hospital emergency
room with Bram was just the week after he came home from the hospital after
spending two months in the NICU and special care nursery.
That two month experience while arduous and filled with up
and down experiences, always took place in modern facilities.
In contrast the trip to the old Mass General seemed like a
trip to a 19th century hospital, cramped, long waits and chaos. My concerned
for my son grew over the 9-10 hour experience in the emergency room. Including
the 2-3 hour wait for an orderly before thankfully we went upstairs for a bed.
I did not question the dedication and ability of the medical staff, just the
hospital administration’s organization of resources and facilities.
After that experience, I wondered if the cure was worse than
the disease when it came to visiting the Mass General Hospital ER.
However, last night's experience changed my view and frankly
fears about visiting Mass General ER.
Instead of Victorian brick, we visited a newly designed 21st
century facility, where triage happened within minutes at an individual nursing
station, then registration with a clerk, before waiting in the children’s
waiting room for half an hour. The whole experience took 2-3 hours, and though
could not be contrasted with our earlier visit which really was life
threatening, was a whole lot better because of the new facilities and to me
better organization.
My thanks to the Mass General hospital administration for
doing an excellent job in upgrading your ER, you have a new convert with this
Dad.