Medical care at county hospital
Re “Getting the treatment at County-USC,” Opinion, Feb. 14
Three cheers to Ben Ehrenreich (and four cheers to his girlfriend) for talking about what most don’t: that the broken healthcare system can’t simply be boiled down to jobs and dollars, or failed policies or individual incompetence. That, instead, the fallout of society’s inability to grapple with and solve its most basic inequalities will then return to be revisited upon that society’s members who are least able to insulate themselves from its daily indignities.
MIKE MURASHIGE
Los Angeles
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I, too, had orthopedic surgery recently. But unlike the woman without health insurance, I had exemplary medical care. My short wait for each of my scheduled post-surgical appointments was in a comfortable, decorated waiting room, and I was seen promptly in a clean exam room.
Shame on our society for not having universal health coverage so that everyone can benefit from this country’s great medical resources, not just those of us fortunate enough to have excellent, employer-paid health insurance.
ALISON MAYERSOHN
Los Angeles
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I feel sorry that the lines and wait are what they are; however, if we stopped being a lure for illegal immigrants, what would the wait be like? We who are insured are paying outrageous premiums to cover the treatment of the uninsured -- and are taxed as well. How much more should we be expected to endure, while we also cannot get timely service in any emergency room.
JUDY WINICK
Los Angeles
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With a mixture of indignation and disappointment, I write to voice my strong objection to the recent Op-Ed characterization of medical care at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.
Ehrenreich’s sensationalism demeans the selfless health professionals who devote themselves daily to the care of the medically indigent.
The county hospital represents a last bastion of safety-net providers. Economics is the science of scarcity. Barring triage on medical grounds, free care will be rationed on a first-come, first-served basis. Waiting in a clinic is not an issue of dignity. The subtext of race crosses the line from inaccurate to irresponsible.
While Ehrenreich’s Chicana friend entertained herself with the medical staff’s Spanish, I assure you that learning a second language to better serve a community represents thoughtful dedication, not a joke. The county provides world-class medical care for those without the ability to pay -- and fixes ankles no one else will.
ALEXANDER A. KHALESSI MD
Los Angeles
The author is a neurosurgeon at County-USC Medical Center.
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While Ehrenreich and his girlfriend were entertaining themselves with self-perceived racial and cultural slights during their treatment ordeal at County-USC, the doctors, nurses, staff (and county taxpayers) were giving her excellent medical care, for free, and doing their best to explain why things at the county’s ER aren’t posh.
You’d think that somewhere in the 700 words of “rage and choking impotence” over having to wait in line and sit on wood benches, they might have found room to add the words “thank you.”
The reality that Ehrenreich and his girlfriend experienced is that there is good medical care for everyone in this country, regardless of insurance or means to pay. It seems the only time people think about where our healthcare system has gone is when they’re sick and the only thing left in the wallet is dignity.
MARK MOROCCO MD
Los Angeles
The author is an attending physician in the UCLA Emergency Medicine Center.