Veterans! That’s who!
I had a first hand comparison of two hospitals this week.
My husband had emergency surgery at the local VA hospital for a blocked intestine. To add to this highly dangerous situation, he is insulin dependent diabetic, has an ostomy, and is 70 pounds overweight. He was taken into emergency immediately upon checkin with no waiting. His situation was triaged within ten minutes of arrival and he was admitted to the hospital. The surgery the next morning took approximately three hours including the repair of an underlying hernia.
I had first noticed the environment in the emergency area. The walls, furniture and general surroundings were clean, quiet, calm and clutter free. The next day when I walked into the main hospital, I noticed the floors were so shiny they literally reflected the people walking over them. Walls were equally clean, white, spotless, and the entire place was quiet.
My husband was in the ICU for ten days and always looked freshly shaved, clean and as comfortable as possible in spite of multiple tubes in every area. The ICU was full, but he had a nurse assigned to only two patients. It had the same sense of quiet calm and pristine cleanliness as the emergency area and hallways. After the ICU, he spent an additional three days in a standard room, shared with another vet. That floor of the hospital was just as quiet, just as clean, with sparkling floors, walls, windows, bathroom and bed area.
The day after I brought him home, our son became ill while visiting us, and I wound up taking my son to the emergency room at a local community hospital. The waiting area was not clean. Chairs were old faded plastic but there were very few chairs so most people stood. We were in line for several minutes at the registration window before someone redirected us to a check in person sitting in a chair at the door with a portable desk. He took vitals and after a few more minutes we were taken to a triage room due to my son’s chest pain and BP 196/136. The internal area was extremely crowded and felt chaotic. Rooms were separated by curtains and conversations were public.
The triage person said it was likely a pinched nerve in his neck but they would draw blood to be sure. It came back with a number of 32 which apparently should have been zero. They wanted to do another blood test. We waited in the patio entrance to the waiting room for the next three hours. He finally checked and was told the nurse was working up one more case and he would be next. He was called back about fifteen minutes later. The number was up to 380. The doctor wanted another test at midnight and the following morning so he was admitted. At that point I left to pick up his kids.
By the following morning the number was 1500 and they called the cardiologist. They ran the camera through his arteries, found a major blockage and inserted a stent. The procedure took about two hours. He was awake and felt immediately better.
I visited him yesterday in the main hospital. The first thing I noticed was the floor in front of the elevator - I thought there had been some kind of accident. The tiles were a mess of brown spots and smears of reddish brown on an offwhite background. On closer inspection I realized this was a repeating pattern. It was most certainly chosen because it would hide any dirt and possibly blood, in spite of being ugly and somewhat shocking at first glance.
The fourth floor elevator opened onto carpet. It was dirty and heavily worn. I have to note, as a retired floor covering contractor I have sold hospital grade antimicrobial carpeting to faciities like this. The manufacturer’s antibicrobial statement was certainly invalid if the carpets are allowed to be left dirty. As I walked down the wide corridor I noted the walls were a dark color. My son was in a large private room with a standard curtain over the door. It appeared clean though it was dark.
My son checked out this morning. He has no heart damage and the vascular images show complete restoration of blood flow. My husband is also well on the mend.
In both cases these men may not have survived without the extraordinary surgeons and nurses who took care of them. But the differences were obvious in the two facilities. I am not saying my son had poor care but he certainly was not thoroughly protected from infection in the community hospital. My husband’s care was excellent from start to finish.
The VA has made an extensive effort to make the hospital as clean and comforting as possible, to remove potential infection hazards, and to remove risks of delayed care as much as possible. We have twenty years experience with this VA facility. Several years ago they operated similarly to the community hospital but now they have improved their care to the level of excellence that they can truly be proud of.
The difference between the VA and the private hospital could not be more clear. The VA wins hands down.