The other side

This is my view today.

Our hospital administration recently did some number crunching. It was prompted by the fact that clinic was overrun the other day, and we had to start triage down at the hospital gate. We simply couldn't see all of the patients. The numbers showed that in all areas of the hospital we had already (in mid-October) surpassed numbers treated, tests run, and patients helped than last year. There are multiple factors contributing in this almost 25% growth across the board. The primary reason is failure of the public health system in the whole country of Honduras. Doctors at the public health institutions have been on strike since June of this year. Their primary complaint is unpaid salaries. It's been a full year now (depending on your location) that back pay has been pending in the national public health system here in Honduras. Without doctors, no one has been getting treated and we are seeing an influx of patients.

This 25% increase has been handled by the same work force as last year, and now the perception that everyone seems so much more tired lately.... makes a little more sense. So today, is Friday, and is my clinic day. Having finished seeing patients, I headed over to the OR and took up position at the head of the bed. Even though it was Friday, there was still too many cases on the board than can be done in a single day. Thankfully we have a visiting Anesthesiologist here this weekend to help cover. He would start a case, then I would take over freeing him up to go start the next one with the next visiting surgeon. Essentially he would do the take off, I'd fly the plane, then he would come back in to land the plane again. It worked out well, and allowed us to do double the cases before breaking for lunch. I am thankful the day went well, and that we were able to help all the patients. And on a personal level, I now know with certainty, that I am definitely glad I get to work on the other side of the sheet on the daily basis.

Much Love.