I love my doctor and he is making me cry -
2006-03-18 - 11:35 a.m.
Well that's dramatic, but the truth sometimes is. Our beloved Dr. Armbrust, he who has steered us through the myriad of doctors, specialists, therapists, the man who can get us an appointment at the geneticist in a week when the waiting list is 4 months is going private. A few years ago I would have used the word hate to describe how I feel about this, now I have bigger things to hate and I am saddened and frustrated instead. Going private is what I call it, I'm sure in medical terms there must be a more technical term like: maximizing ones income potential while striving to minimize petty annoyances such as waiting for those fortunate enough to have above average incomes.
The upshot is that we won't be able to see him any more. To see him after April one must pony up $2700 per family per year, this would be, of course, a non-refundable, non-insurance covered charge that enable you to simply be on his client list. In return you are allowed to make appointments with him, these you must still pay for as usual but hey! Less Waiting! Access to his cell phone number for the lucky few able to pay the fee! Could we dig up the money, sure we could. What would the trade off be? Most likely we would have to drop the extra "cash only" physical therapy we are getting for Mason right now that we hope will eventually allow him to move like a normal child. Hmmm, the options look like the possibility of normal movement vs. continuing to see the doctor who saw us weekly through Mason's first very sickly year of life. It seems like an easier choice than it is. Few doctors can see through Mason's oddly shaped ear canals to view the eardrum itself, Dr. A can. Not every Doctor can get us the instant appointment with other important doctors; Dr. A can do it too! Boom Boom Boom Dr. A is a wonder...Boom Boom Boom Dr. A ...well...no point in finishing the fun Dr. Seuss rhyme, because Dr. Wonderful is leaving us.
I could rant about the healthcare system in our country for a while, something about how the most powerful nation in the world still has people who can't get treatment for curable illnesses, how one political party had the chance and fluffed it and the other party seriously doesn't care. I could talk about this doctor being selfish, but I'm not sure it's true. The insurance industry rewards doctors financially based on volume, not quality of care and he doesn't want to have to base his patient care on moving them out of there as fast as he can. He probably also wants to send his 7 children to private colleges starting soon, but that's a different matter. If I start down the path of blame there are too many routes to take: inadequate nutrition, inadequate pre-natal care, inadequate school systems, pollution in the water and food our children consume...I could get lost in the wilderness of need that exists even in an affluent area like the one I live in.
Instead, maybe I'll just print this out and mail it to Dr. A. I'm sure he is hearing a lot about the disappointment and loss his patients feel endlessly just about now. The people who have been with him for 20 years, those whose parents were cared for until their deaths in his practice, who's babies were caught by his own hands...the ones that can no longer afford to be his patients. Maybe I’ll print out a copy for my elected officials as well, they who have excellent health care now and for the rest of their lives thanks to our tax dollars paying for it. Maybe I should send it to my local paper; to anyone I can think of who will have a chance in doing something to help our floundering healthcare system.
Boom Boom Boom, My son Mason is a wonder, Boom Boom Boom I can make a noise like thunder.
