- New York State research data shows that over 4 million people make approximately 7 million visits yearly to hospital emergency departments.
- Assumptions, based on many television ER medical series, are an outdated understanding of how emergency medicine is practiced in New York.
- Hospitals should look to the hospitality industry for guidance and direction if they have an interest in turning a sick patient into a healthy visitor.
Business travelers and tourists frequently get sick while visiting new countries and new cities. A telephone call to the front desk of a hotel, or an urgent call to a friend or colleague may not provide a healthcare provider fast enough to deal with the immediate medical issue. What to do? Currently, the quick response is to head directly to Urgent Care or the ER/ED section of the nearest hospital.
eTurboNews.com reporter, Dr Elinor Garely, a native New Yorker, recently experienced an aftershock from her second COVID vaccine, and has spent the last 6 weeks running to doctors and ER facilities finding the huge gaps that exist between expectations of medical attention in Manhattan and the reality.
Dr. Garely shares with us her personal experiences and observations as she addresses the chaos of the Manhattan emergency care realities with the hope that visitors to the city will find a pathway to wellness and avoid (or sidestep) a few of the biggest potholes on their way to recovery.
Garely finds that “It is unfortunate that the hospital industry does not spend more time and effort investigating the protocols and procedures of the hospitality industry where the guest is the focus of services and less time on attempting to maximize a fragile and faulty revenue stream.”
Here is her story in her own words.