Healthcare Crisis

Part 1 – Dec 5 , Part 2 – Dec 6, Part 3 – Dec 7, Part 4 – Dec 8, Part 5 – Dec 9
Articles are in PDF

In the past 6 months since I’ve had my blog, i’ve never really given much personal commentary on the topics i covered, well that is changing with this post. This past week the Los Angeles Times ran a 5 part story on the mishaps at King/Drew Hospital. I have always been intrigued by America’s healthcare system and how it seems so dysfunctional. My interest started when I came down with meningitis in college and although my hospital care was exceptional, I wonder had it not been for mom who was at my bedside 24/7, my sister who knew what questions to ask, our family friend who was a physician at the hospital and knew the attending physician that received me in the ER, had all these variables not been in place what would have happened. Not to mention the countless family doctors who received my medical records (I wonder how HIPAA would have affected that) and were asked for their professional opinion. Well, after reading the articles from the past 5 days, it’s pretty clear things can go very wrong. Granted King/Drew seems to be in the minority, but even more concerning is that it’s been going on for years and no one seems to give a shit. Most notable quote from the series: “This may be King/Drew’s most insidious enemy — the burden of low expectations”