how about drinking?

"Of course, it doesn't generate any income for the practice or hospital, so not the preferred path for them."

One of the ironic benefits of our healthcare worker crisis is that most clinics and offices are booked out for months. So if someone opts out of a procedure, it frees up an appointment for another patient. The capitalists might not like it, but it helps everyone else in the provider stream. There is no shortage of people needing care.

🙄🤔😘

Good morning:

We have a very serious issue here in New Mexico with the lack of providers and nurses. Not unlike other areas but as a very rural state too like many here live in, our rural hospitals are also in big trouble and many starting to close. One of my colleagues said she was on a call this morning with some of our chief medical officers and the number is 2000 waiting for a PCP.

I had to change my PCP in 2021 after I changed jobs and had to wait months to get in with her, and much longer to see a lot of other specialists (we are super short on dermatologists here and with a very high level of skin cancer). Without a PCP, you can't really get to any specialists too and of course, we are short on them too. I have been thinking of leaving NM when I finally retire and to find a better place for healthcare but in many ways, I am not sure that exists anywhere either.

Our state government is in session right now and looking at a couple issues that may help. One got signed yesterday to create interstate pacts to help providers get licensed to provide care here. Not sure how that works as I am sure most will not be relocating or perhaps doing part time here and elsewhere as some can do in states that lie closer together. But maybe it will help with telehealth visits and maybe helping to get more referrals for specialized care with providers here.

The second issue that is causing our providers to leave is no cap on malpractice lawsuits. There have been some enormous payouts here in recent years (hundreds of millions) and that has driven out a lot of our providers. My sister worked as a PCP for years and was always getting pulled into malpractice suits even if she just read a chart for someone. If they don't figure out how to cap these lawsuits for malpractice which we know needs to be there for many situations, we will continue to lose our providers.

As a person who was self employed for many years and had to rely on the ACA for my insurance, I was always most concerned about having access to insurance to get medical care. I actually went back to work FT in this job in 2020 due to not having any work during the first year of the pandemic through my business, but also they were trying to turn over the ACA again that year and thought "oh no, I am not going to be in a pandemic AND lose my insurance too." So I got this job at age 60 and hanging on to it for now and part of that is to hang on to my current insurance through my job AND my providers. I cannot start over again….

We have a double edge sword now with cuts to Medicaid and lack of providers. The healthcare industry has been struggling here for years and on the bring of collapse in many areas. To answer NM's question, how many people may die waiting for medical care? Many….

Today was a giant pile of suck! Tonight is even worse!

Lots of wine.

My boxed wine order arrived safely.

DH's radiation-oncologist hopes increasing the steroids for his brain mets may help…otherwise, I weep (well, have been, all day…for days)

A BIG pile of suck.

I love my old soft purse with 2 large zipper compartments for contents. However, zipper on one compartment is weak from age and at times difficult to zip. I dread the day choosing a new purse. ☹️

Wallcat and Mommy, sending hugs 🙏❣️

Go USA!

minustwo,

I'll keep that in mind.

wallycat,

I would just once like to taste a rare wine.

Hope increasing the steroids for your DH's brain mets helps.

Jazzy,

February hot spring trip?

Mommy - not yet but will watch for them. Only skating and cross country skiing so far.

Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Sunday Funday! Six whole degrees outside this ayem, the puppers made their ayem trips out very short today! I got an email from Mom's facility yesterday, norovirus has struck again, this time in 2 areas, the memory care and Mom's "neighborhood". There's a day care program that meets at the facility that has a couple of participants out with RSV. I’m surprised there hasn't been some flu there yet this season. Mom is still struggling with using her phone but I think I have found a phone that will work better for her. It's designed for people with memory and dexterity issues and includes remote management by a caregiver, one touch dialing, and the controls/settings can be locked by the caregiver so the user can't change them. I've got to research it a little more, but I'm seriously considering getting one and changing Mom's service provider. She currently has a Lively phone, which is supposed to be easier, and in many way it is, but it is still a cell phone with lots of menus to navigate (or be played with).

Jazzy--Nursing has had interstate compacts for some time. It's also called licensing reciprocity. I can practice nursing in any state that Maine has a reciprocity agreement with on my Maine license without getting a nursing license in that state. The benefits are that I can go to work immediately in another compact state if I move, or are there temporarily or in an emergency situation without paying for another license and going through that state's licensing process, which can include residency requirements, testing, fingerprinting, background checking, etc. It started out as a way to get nurses into disaster areas as quickly as possible to provide relief care. The downsides are that each state has its own unique set of requirements for licensure and Nurse Practice Acts which delineate what nurses can and cannot do, making it easier for a nurse to perform a task or provide a specific care that is allowed in the home state but not in the currently working state, states lose some income from licensing fees, and its harder to track a nurse that complaints or other issues. It's not a perfect system, but it has allowed nurses to respond to disasters and emergencies more quickly and move around more easily. That NM has no cap on medical malpractice is going to a big influencer, as that applies to nurses as well as other providers. Add to that the new trend of nurses being criminally prosecuted for errors, and the old trend of nursing not being valued by hospitals and medical systems and the number of people going into nursing is going to continue to continue to decline. I depended on the ACA for health insurance for a couple of years when I wasn't working full time. I finally realized that I would be better off without insurance given how much I was paying per month and the huge deductible I would need to meet before anything got covered. I discovered there are lots of ways to get medication less expensively without insurance and many doctor's office fees were considerably less than what was billed to insurance companies when the insurance box said "self-pay". It's a lot less expensive for the office/hospital to bill a person than file a claim with an insurance company. And you are very right, the entire health care system is about to collapse. It's going to be a major mess when it happens.

Teka--I’m glad you got good care! That is so important. Never seeing an actual Urologist doesn't surprise me, that is the trend more and more now. And it's not so bad if the practice has enough staff and resources to actually provide the care needed. It's not the specialist doctor that is making treatment recommendations any more, it's the insurance companies' requirements or computerized algorithms that are driving care, because it is so important that every patient get treated exactly like every other patient with the same diagnosis. Here's praying you have a good report at the next appointment.

mOmmy--hugs!

Wally--hugs to you and your DH, too! I am so angry that the hospice people were cruel. I hope you get satisfaction from the director. That's not what hospice is supposed to be about.

Jazzy--LOL!! Love the planter and succs!

Lemonade Recipe
• 2 meyer lemons, juiced
• 2 cups filtered water
• 1 tbsp raw cane sugar

Directions: Mix ingredients in a large pitcher and chill.

Winter Blues Cocktail
Ingredients:
• 1 shot of UV blue raspberry vodka
• 4 oz lemonade
• Ice

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake. Serve over ice. Enjoy!
Happy Sipping!

From https://www.momtrends.com/living/winter-blues-cocktail-recipe/

Teka - I was glad to see Breezy won the gold. I saw the clip where she was crying up on the podium when she got her medal. Probably for a lot of reasons. I just read Lindsey broke her leg and had surgery. She has a lot of recovery ahead of her 🙏

Was thrilled to see our Mixed Doubles Curling team win both matches yesterday.

This is what I sent to 4 top folks at our local hospital this morning:

Dear Jefferson Healthcare folks,

I'm writing this out of desperation. Several community members have mentioned to me that they are afraid to go to Jefferson Healthcare for care. As of last week, I understand why.

That a nurse can say to a patient thatit doesn't matter if their husband is dying because the best man on the planet (her father) died. Really???? Oh boy, I'm eager to go back there.

That I call hospice/home-health and get an ANSWERING SERVICE....can you post on your site that you do not stagger lunches for employees but that EVERYONE is gone from noon to one and you cannot get care??!

That you call hospice/home-health, having been told by a doctor's nurse that a referral will be sent to hospice but NO referral was put in place...and that I need to drag a dying man IN TO THE HOSPITAL to evaluate him...but wait....hospice/home-health will come out and evaluate him anyway. REALLY??!!!! (never mind his chart should be pretty clear on his health condition).

That the one and only oncologist in the oncology department is...wait for it...at a conference. NO oncology doctors in the oncology dept???!

That a nurse has the audacity to tell a sobbing wife as she is terrified watching her husband fade, “well,it is your choice if you want to see him in pain. Either let him lay there or call the EMTs and we can provide IV meds...”

So let me understand...the goal is to know if and when we will die or get frail and schedule it?? That there is no dignity for ailing people? The the spouse/caregiver has to die herself before she can get any assistance? That the“rules”/protocol matter more than the compassion for a sick person and their sobbing, frightened wife?? Maybe I need to book mys lot now for 10 years from now??!!!

You should update the hospice website indicating there is zero bereavement support, zero healthcare support until you actually are dead, and NO compassion to ease death.

I started the calling/scheduling last week Wednesday. Today is Monday...still no calls.

Thanks for reading,

RANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awesome letter and good for you for sending it. Ditto hugs