Letters to the Editor 3-19-15

Spot on
Editor: Your editorial (“Wrong solution, wrong problem,” March 12) was spot on. I have never heard it put so succinctly. We must send the message to all government agencies that they must live within their income, as we individuals must. Too many “musts” in that sentence, I know, but the word applies. You are so right: “Enough is enough.”
David Little
Sebastopol
Good care
Editor: A group is lobbying for support to defund the parcel tax that generates funds to what was Palm Drive Hospital and due to reopen as a tech-savvy 28-bed, no-wait ER, with specialties in orthopedic and spine surgery and also specializes as a neurological disorders (dementia, Alzheimer’s, etc.) hospital.
My opinion will certainly not be welcomed by everyone, however, I feel compelled to share it. I was, like so many others, vehemently opposed to the parcel tax. I too, felt we had paid to keep Palm Drive Hospital open.
The adage, “Take a walk in my shoes,” has changed my mind through my painful experience with Kaiser, Sutter and Memorial hospitals.
Over the past several years, I have been in the emergency room at each of those hospitals, as well as Palm Drive Hospital. The wait time to be seen by a doctor was never less than two hours in each of the hospitals mentioned. The one exception was Palm Drive, where my wait time was about 10 minutes, and that being with three people ahead of me.
Last November, I suffered from a kidney stone, which was excruciatingly painful and, coupled with my existing illness, only made my situation worse. When my husband rushed me to the new Sutter Hospital, he approached the ER admitting desk, only to find no one there. After about 10 minutes, a young man passed by the desk and Steve asked him for help. The young man said that the admit person should be there shortly. Both Steve and another man waiting to be seen stormed out of that ER. Steve then brought me to Memorial ER, where I sat in my wheelchair with my upper body lying on Steve’s lap for more than two hours. My sister-in-law couldn’t take seeing me suffer and gave the admit reception a warning she would cause a scene if I wasn’t seen immediately. I was finally called in after waiting more than two hours, but didn’t see a doctor for at least an hour. At 1 pm. (We left our house around 9 a.m. on this horrifically painful day) the next morning, I was finally wheeled into a hospital room.
So now, I will gladly pay the parcel tax to reopen a new tech-savvy, single-room, no-wait ER hospital at the Pam Drive facility. For those people who have Medicare or insurance other than Kaiser care available, one never knows what the future holds. Through my experience, however, I’ve learned that $197 a year on two properties is well worth the convenience and quality care I’ve had at Palm Drive.
Mary Tamargo
Guerneville