This is what I call bad timing.
America as we know it is changing.
Arrangements like this for knee replacement surgery won't fly in the new era of socialized medicine that Barack Obama and the Democrats plan to force on the country.
The Neurologic & Orthopedic Hospital of Chicago (NOHC) and the owner of the Chicago Fairmont Hotel today announced the successful conclusion of the nation's first double knee replacement post-operative recovery at a luxury hotel. The Colorado patient underwent a double knee replacement at NOHC on February 11, through a minimally invasive procedure conducted by noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. Mitchell Sheinkop. Shortly thereafter the patient was transferred to Chicago's Fairmont Hotel for recovery and physical therapy before returning home on February 21.
"We worked many weeks along with the owner of the Chicago Fairmont Hotel to ensure that every medical concern was addressed from the moment she set foot in Chicago until she departed for home," stated Dr. Mitchell Sheinkop. "We saw great advantages to conducting post-op procedures at a hotel versus a hospital facility including cost, disease avoidance and comfort. The patient received exemplary care throughout and her recovery was likely hastened by homelike facilities and extraordinary service unavailable to hospitals."
To accommodate the recovery, the Chicago Fairmont prepared and implemented strict procedures under the guidance of Dr. Sheinkop and his team. "Hotels have rehearsed these procedures and are well trained to deal with emergencies," commented Laurence Geller, Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Hotels and Resorts, owner of the Chicago Fairmont Hotel. "Our larger objective was to seamlessly accommodate the nurse, physical therapist and other caregivers into a safe, transparent routine consistent with the care that was prescribed. And of course, we wanted to make sure that our cuisine was not far a field from what the doctor ordered."
"Traveling to Chicago to have the procedure done by Dr. Sheinkop was the right decision," said patient Phyllis Coors. "By choosing this route my recovery was less painful, far easier and shorter. Dr. Sheinkop and his team have extended themselves beyond the call of duty. My undying gratitude goes out to Dr. Sheinkop and the Chicago Fairmont staff who have taken exemplary care of me."
Strategic Hotels, owner of the Chicago Fairmont Hotel, is currently working with Dr. Sheinkop to formulate similar post-operative care capabilities at its other U.S. hotels. "It makes great sense to provide these services in cities that provide world-class medical capabilities for patients that must travel to receive the best care," Sheinkop added. "The Washington D.C.: Four Seasons Hotel, Loews Santa Monica and Ritz Carlton Half-moon Bay are obvious candidates to offer these services through our post-op practicum as soon as April of this year."
Once Obama gets health care in the U.S. to resemble service at the DMV, there is no way that post-op recovery and rehab at luxury hotels will be an option.
Socialism means EVERYONE must suffer equally.
Under the socialized system in Canada, the wait for knee replacement can take up to 6 months after consultation with a specialist for scheduled cases, and 30 to 90 days for urgent cases, depending on severity.
Waiting 6 months to receive care sounds terrific, doesn't it?
Personally, I wouldn't define a 90-day wait as an urgent response, but I don't have a socialist mindset.
Yes, let's get the government to take over health care as soon as possible.
Kiss the idea of post-op and rehab at luxury hotels goodbye.
Socialism means everyone must suffer equally.
Ah, Utopia!
9 comments:
More fear-mongering uniformed partisan blather from Ms Mary. Yesterday's news (NPR)reported in 2007 that 70% of all new wealth created by you and I in doing our jobs went to the top 1% of the US population. These people will no doubt be able to afford luxury hotels in conjunction with surgery.
Meanwhile those of us who have not overspent our budgets, have zero credit card balances and have tried to be responsible with our money have just been the victims of an across the board credit rating reduction of approximately 100 points. Anyone checking into re-financing lately will see the change. Now our patriotic insurance companies who for the last three to four years have been basing insurance premiums on our credit scores will be digging into our pockets a bit deeper.
"Once Obama gets health care in the U.S. to resemble service at the DMV, there is no way that post-op recovery and rehab at luxury hotels will be an option.
Socialism means EVERYONE must suffer equally."
What kind of un-Christian, elitist nonesense are those two statements? People like this blogger who fail to understand that there is quite a difference between regulated capitalism and pure socialism, should use some common sense and basic research to further define the terms that they seem to love, to spew more hate and uninformed partisan BS.
If you want to know about everything healthcare, check out a strongly Republican Party faithful, speaking with intelligence, health-care expertise, experience and common sense at: http://moneyedpoliticians.net/
The March 10 post is truly informative in and of itself. Please let the uninformed such as Freedom Eden waste away in their misconceptions and misplaced outrage. Most of the drivel at this site is nothing more than that.
The well known fact that US health care expenditures are the highest per-capita in the world, and we rank something like 30th in the world for actual health-care delivered, should be enough to debunk the premise of this post.
If that is not enough to convince you, I have a drivers license, but I can't get health insurance or health care, the way the system is now.
Mary, socialized medicine will do nothing of the sort. Have you researched socialized medicine countries like England, where it has been fully successful, no doctor calls the government for permission to treat, they still get paid a more than fair wage, and everyone is happy. We are the worst country inthe world for medicine for our citizens. It is a right, not a privilidge for the rich which is what you want it to be. We engage in sick care, not health care, its time to change that. I have family who are in the medical field, 3 doctors and 4 nurses and you know who controls medicine now? HMO's and health care institutions, who deny, deny deny treatment because of cost, causing death, and yet they are immune from suit thanks to the conservatives. It is time for ocnservatives to stop being such hypocrites, if you support life that includes helping the living and making sure they are protected health care and from negligence which includes the right to file suit, yet you conservatives are all against this. Hypocrites.
Obama doesn't want "regulated" capitalism.
He wants big government. He's doing a damn good job of destroying the private sector.
What is it like to have socialized medicine?
Find out here.
(Caution: It may make you sick.)
Have you researched socialized medicine countries like England, where it has been fully successful, no doctor calls the government for permission to treat, they still get paid a more than fair wage, and everyone is happy.
Yes, I have researched socialized medicine in England.
Everyone most definitely is NOT happy.
To address health care in England..
A few years ago I moved back to the US after having lived in the UK for over 5 years.
The reason you may not hear people complaining about health care there is because the ones who would complain are dead. I know this from personal experience... a good friend... a dear lady who waited over 3 YEARS to get the surgery she needed. I kid you not, she died on the operating table. She was elderly and was constantly put at the bottom of the list because the quality of her life was not as important as mine or anyone's that was younger than her. Geez.. I'm crying again just thinking of it and how she suffered. RIP sweet Dodie.
I don't care to read all the statistics telling me how great socialized medicine is. I lived it for 5 years. Let me tell you, no one in the UK that I knew thought that their care was better than what they would have received in the US. If they had money to do so they would have all come here for treatment in a heartbeat (pun intended).
I have a friend who works with poor kids in South Central Los Angeles. A lot of her kids are dealing with grief and loss from the death of family members. I assumed it was because of gang violence - but it isn't. Their parents and aunts and uncles and siblings are dying from simple infections. They are dying because they can't afford to see a doctor to get an antibiotic.
Socialized medicine is simply the idea that everyone is entitled to a minimum standard of care. I am living in England right now, and the NHS is certainly no worse, and probably much better than your typical HMO in the States. The difference is that everyone here is covered and can see a doctor.
People here are free to buy private insurance and go to private doctors, and many do. All the bankers and lawyers have gold-plated health insurance, just like in the US, and they go to expensive doctors who are just as happy to order diagnostic tests as US doctors. But unlike the US, there is no pool of 40 million uninsured.
My guess is that Susan's friend Dodie, had she lived in the US, wouldn't have had insurance at all and wouldn't even have had the chance to see a doctor, let alone make it to surgery. Also, Susan's info is dated. Currently, the NHS is doing well at meeting its target to insure that all patients get the treatment they need with 18 weeks. And that isn't much different from how long it took for my wife to get an appointment to see a specialist in the US when we lived there, even though we had fantastic insurance and could go anywhere we wanted.
I can't believe that all these people are dying from "simple" infections.
The uninsured do get treatment in the U.S.
Mary - the article you link to only says that a lot of money is spent treating some of the uninsured. It does not say that ALL uninsured are treated. For many uninsured people in the US, their primary source of treatment is the ER, and by the time you end up there with pneumonia, it is often too late.
Just because you don't want to believe that people are dying from simple infections, doesn't mean it isn't true. Your terse dismissal of the pain and suffering of real children in Los Angeles speaks volumes.
In the UK, EVERYONE can see a doctor whenever they need to. Your GP can refer you to whatever specialist they see fit to treat whatever is wrong with you. And if you don't like the NHS service, you are free to buy private insurance or see a private doctor on your own.
Why is it so terrible and threatening to you for people to suggest that everyone in the United States should have free access to some basic level of health care? Nobody is suggesting that you can't buy more if you want to. Nobody should have to die for lack of a week's supply of penicillin.
Have you heard of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)?
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