Jose
CONTRA COSTA
I am a veteran and the only access to healthcare I can get is thru the Veterans Administration (VA). One weekend I felt sick; the pain on my side was unbearable.
The VA clinic was closed, but my son called their hotline and described my symptoms. The people at the VA hotline said I couldn’t wait. I went to the hospital right away, where they found I had gallstones.
During my five days at the hospital, they had me on constant intravenous (IV) therapy. At the time, I didn’t know why, but my arm got infected. The hospital didn’t treat my arm and instead they sent me home.
I went to the VA clinic to see if they could take care of my arm; they asked me how often my IV syringe was replaced. They were shocked when I told them “never.”
Apparently IV syringes are supposed to be replaced every 72 hours, but during my five-day-stay at the hospital, it wasn’t changed once.
If that wasn’t enough, a couple of weeks later the hospital sent me a bill for $14,750. Now my medical debt has been sent to collections and I am at risk of losing my home.
July 13, 2007 at 02:12 PM | Permalink | Blog Reactions
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