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Looks like Small Town's hospital is not exactly an exception.

Over there at Fainting in Coyles, Terrance tells the story of his father, unlucky enough to be ill and in France.

3 bathroom for 51 patients, but all of them used as storage rooms anyway? The best - and particularly expensive - health care system in the world is starting to look like the one of a third rate Soviet republic.

Lamentable.

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Il semble bien que l'hôpital de Petite Ville ne soit pas exactement une exception.

Là-bas sur Fainting in Coyles, Terrance nous raconte l'histoire de son père, suffisamment malchanceux pour être malade et en France.

3 salles de bain pour 51 patients, mais toutes utilisées comme entrepôt de toutes manières ? Le meilleur - et surtout coûteux - système de santé du monde commence à ressembler à celui d'une république soviétique de seconde zone.

Lamentable.

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the dissident frogman

I own, built and run this place. In a previous life I was not French but sadly, I died.

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Comments thread (41)

636 - John Anderson, RI USA

John Anderson, RI USA
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CA - "But the French case was compounded by unseasonal weather conditions..." Yep. But I also read a statement from a French Government Minister, when the toll stood at 3000, that this was not very significant because it was "only" 300 more than normal...

637 - Stan

Stan
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America has a socialized health care system. They are called the VA (Veterans Affairs) hospitals. I'm a Veteran and you wouldn't get me to go into one of those places. Before I will listen to any suggestion of National Health Care I want to see the US fix the system it already has.
The Canadians and British seem to care enough about their social contract that they can muster enough resources to make their national health care systems work. America has a different social contract and frankly we will not comitt the resources to make such a system work. France I observe through the eyes and words of DF and it would seem that the social contract in France shares this particular weakness.
However all of this misses the point. In the Chicago heat wave older floks died because their social network had failed. No one came by to see how "Old Mr. Jenkins" was doing and so no one knew that his fan broke or that his AC unit had not worked for years. The heat was the proximate cause of death. Neglect was the root cause.
I hope that the French can get past the finger pointing stage and start planning for next summer.

638 - Christa

Christa
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My grandparents were very poor people. Both grandmothers lived into their 90's. They did not suffer for lack of health care. As they got older both grandmothers required increasing amounts of medication. They weren't turned away for lack of money from a doctor, hospital, or pharmacy (where you get medicines). The state payed for most of their treatments. They had a very small amount they needed to pay out of pocket, somewhere between $3 - $5, per doctor visit and per presription refill. They both also lived in public housing for the elderly. The state paid most of the rent and they paid a certain % of their monthly social security. They were also eligible for meals as well. Until they became elderly and retired both sets of grandparents had contributed to social security because they were hard working people all their working lives. They were able to live in low rent apartments when they were working. However, when they retired they could no longer even afford low rent housing. They had no savings, no house. However, they did just fine in their old age. They weren't on the streets and they didn't suffer because they couldn't afford doctors or medicines. I think our state and federal geovernments have excellent programs to take care of those who can't afford to take care of themselves.

639 - E.Legall

E.Legall
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Could it be that some of the "40 million Americans" could be uninsured by choice? The National Center for Policy Analysis : http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba379/ You can do a Google search for "uninsured by choice". On another note, it's instructive to notice that Europe has now become am amoral postmodernist pleasure swamp, where holidays for bureaucrats are more important than dying seniors. Chirac came back well tanned after 10,000 had already died. Thank God I live here, where we value the freedom to DO more than "freedom" from life's potential dangers. Europeans have socialized risk out of their societies, and have thus created an idealess wasteland of welfare beggars and snotty intellectuals. America is where it's at. This is where it all happens, because we are not afraid of risk. Socialism IS failure. Like you didn't already know that...

640 - ErikZ

ErikZ
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Socialized medicene: Why would you ever entrust your health to the government? There is a signifigant conflict of interest, all you do is cost them money. And because the bills are being paid by the government, it decides that it can tell you how to live your life. After all, if something happens because you are not taking care of yourself, the government will end up paying for it. Could you imagine being told what to eat for your own good?

641 - Warren Eckels

Warren Eckels
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The government does not always mess up when providing health care. In Chicago, Cook County Hospital just underwent a $550 million renovation that has given the doctors the conveniences and design improvements they want, while replacing the infamous patient wards with semiprivate rooms. The old facility, though falling apart, boasted the premier trauma center in a city filled with prestigious hospitals and now it has adequate facilities. It's pretty sad that the French hospital system crashed and burned this year -- The Spectator (UK) did an article praising every aspect of his hospital stay, from the attentive nurses, the excellent food and the splendid teamwork. Granted, the author was from the UK, where the NIH hospitals do not enjoy a good reputation. As for differences in life expectancy, perhaps America's fairly high infant mortality rate and murder rate would explain shorter American life expectancies. And, of course 9/11 did us no favors in that department.

642 - kukuzelis

kukuzelis
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This exchange of experiences and opinions was quite an education for this Greek doctor. Thank you people for taking the time to write down what you know. Reading you I have learned a lot about the US health care system. While working here in Greece I had always the annoying sensation that our health care system was devised primarily to help the doctors and other civil servants make a living and that the occasional cured patient was just a by-product of that original goal. We have air conditioning in 90% of the hospitals though.

643 - Anticipatory Retaliation

Anticipatory Retaliation
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I've been without health insurance in the U.S. for long periods. It wasn't great - but you can make do. I've been overseas without health insurance. That's a lot easier than doing it in the U.S., and is pretty darn good for minor ailments and maladys. I've been to what was essentially govermentally funded healthcare in the U.S. - and it blew big beefy chunks - but it was free. More interestingly, at the state-run free healthcare places I've seen in the U.S. the system was roundly abused. If you're not paying the bills, there's no reason to exhibit any measure of self-reliance or good judement. I've also had family members in long-term care in both private and state facilities, with funding coming from all over creation. The private facilities (oddly enough) didn't hold a candle to the VA facilties. This, I think, has a lot to do with the influence on VA care at the state level, and it just happened to be in a state where they gave a rat's ass about their vets. On the other hand, getting the social security office was a complete disaster and screwed me out of some $30 grand. The VA facility was, if I remember correctly, after VA and SS benefits, something like a buck per day. What does this have to do with anything? About as much as CA's posts do with the topic at hand - interesting stuff, but just not pertinent to anything at all and certainly not a reasonable basis for forming healthcare policy.

644 - kj

kj
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My father is a physician in a public health hospital in the US. He works long, difficult days long, running from one emergency to another. He tells me most patients feel little responsibility for their health. Many make highly questionable lifestyle decisions which result in crises for which they feel no responsibility. They generally see no reason to change their behavior once the crisis has passed. The state picks up the bill for the massive health care charges they run up. No one is ever turned away. Incidentally, he works in Louisiana, whose summers consist of exactly the sort of weather that killed France's thousands. I need not add that thousands do not die each year, alone and neglected, in Louisiana's summer heat. On a related note, he has patients who can afford private health insurance but see little point in paying for it when state-funded care is so readily available. I experienced the national health care system in Canada. The quality of health care in the United States is significantly better. And for the poor there are many options. When I had a health emergency in graduate school in the United States, for which the bill would have been impossible for me to pay, the private hospital that treated me picked up part of the bill because my income was low. They took excellent care of me, knowing before my treatment began that I would not pay the entire bill. My physician was the best oncologist in the city.

645 - Matt

Matt
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American Pharma co's who charge US citizens more for perscription drugs because they're subsidizing foriegn markets is a fact. It's another example of how we contribute to the world. Anti-Americanism is a fact too (man, travelling around the world, I've had my share for sure. It's IN YOUR FACT) and it's just sad how few people appreciate our contributions. Japan too, to a lesser extent, subsidizes the world. If they weren't so polite, they'd probably be pissed about it too. It blows my mind when liberals criticize "big corporations" as if it isn't these same corps who're employing their families and making RD breakthroughs. Sure, once in a while you get bad apples like Enron etc. But how many rotten apples would you see if the media turned as much attention to the liberal whiner groups as they do the corps? But if they did, they'd probably be called fascists, racists etc. I love France and have spent many wonderful summers there. I hope the French people wake up and smell their wonderful coffee! Thanks DF for the forum. Matt

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