We have come to expect certain things from our hospitals…. as flawed as the system that they operate within might be. We expect safe standards of operation for routine and general procedures. But we do not always get that. In fact, we often get nothing even close to that. But whether we require hospital services for broken bones or disease treatment protocols, we expect to have such services in a clean, safe and proficient environment. After all, the US spends more than 3 times the amount per person on health care than ANY other country in the world. That money must be going to provide high quality access to standardized levels of health care for all, right??? Whether you go to your local hospital or a ‘big name’ facility, one might expect that the standard of care should be relatively even, all things considered. Health care is health care right???
All hospitals created equal, right? That could not be further from the truth
In the recent 2008 U.S. News “Best Hospitals” rankings, hospitals were analyzed and ranked according to how well they provided particular services or specialties to their patients. If any hospital appears in more than one category, this presumably indicates an even greater level of ‘Best’. This was deemed the ‘Honor Roll’, the gold standard of health service in America.
Our Health Care System Is Failing: Most Hospitals Failed to Make the Grade
This year, nearly two thirds of all hospitals analysed failed the first qualifying test of ‘medical goodness’. Out of the 5,453 hospitals put through the rigorous statistical analysis, less than 3% (170) scored high enough to appear in even one of the areas of specialty. What of the gold standard of hospitals listed in more than one area of specialty? Only 19 of more than 5,000 hospitals made the Honour Roll of medical centres ranked at or near the top in at least one of the six specialties tested for.
So how can you access the gold standard health facilities to have the best take care of you in your life or death condition? Luck, you need to be lucky enough to have the economic wherewith all to cover the economic costs of the procedures. That is doubtful as more than 70% of all bankruptcies in the US in 2007 were stated to be because of medical expenses incurred.
Perhaps your luck then will be in the form of being one of the fortunate 20% of Americans to have health insurance. Then again, your insurance company may or may not decide that your situation might or might not be covered.
The last form of luck is proximity, location, location, location. If your luck is good and if you can afford to get in, or if you are one of the lucky few to have insurance, are you lucky enough to have one of the ‘best’ hospitals relatively close by? If not, then the cost of transportation, family lodging during the process and other incidentals (did we mention gas costs??) may also make accessing the best health care centres prohibitive.
This ‘Best Hospital’ ranking is truly evidence that the rich get richer, and the poor get sicker. It is no wonder that more people die from medical mistakes and hospital caused infections than nearly every other single source reported. Thousands die daily from medical mishaps and oversights. With 3 % making the best list one might not be surprised then that you are receiving less than the best medical care at your local facility. But perhaps this might make you feel better. The ‘Best Hospitals’ still experience the same ridiculous rate of medical mistakes, oversights, mis-medication, infectious contamination, viral outbreaks and hospital induced deaths as your local facility. At least you are paying less to become sicker and die due to their mistakes.
If we insist on spending trillions on health care, perhaps we could do it in a way that the standards become more equal and accessible. Perhaps there might be wisdom in looking at procedures that focus on prevention and less intrusive and toxic means of healing. There must be real solutions to this dilemma. After all, is good health care an economic privilege or a basic human right?
So if you find yourself sick and in need of help from a hospital, I truly wish you good luck. You will need it. That’s not rocket science, or even medical science, it’s the way it is.
But remember, if you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got.
William McCreary, PhD., Doctor of Natural Medicine
Contributing Writer and Instructor (Energy Psychology)
Randy McCreary has studied the interplay between the mind, spirit and body and its impact on both the development and reversal of disease conditions for the past 15 years. He has brought this vast information together into an effective format known as Neurotherapy. This self healing energetic psychological protocol deals with the optimization of the interplay between the Mind, Spirit and Body of the individual.
Randy is also a highly sought after international speaker, author and educator on various topics within the field of health and wellness. He is renowned for his ability to powerfully impact his audiences through knowledge, humour, common sense and compassion.
