Dear government, you suck. Rant.

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Nothing like driving around all morning in the rain trying to get into the courthouse so you can drop off documents that they say you have to drop off and there's no parking anywhere near the courthouse. Yeah dear government you suck. Now my mom's going to take me so that way I don't have to worry about parking she's going to drop me off and drive around.

 

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ThatFLGuy - Thank goodness you have a person who cares about you that can help. I took a friend to the courthouse in Albuquerque several times and he always waited until just before the courthouse closed. At first I parked in a close by parking lot and he paid the fee and walked to the court while I waited. But after he got sicker (he died of colon cancer in 2019) I dropped him off and found a parking spot near by where he could see me. But the last time we went he had to leave his cell phone in my car so he couldn't call me when he was through. He asked another person to use their phone but he couldn't remember my number so he called the only other person that he knew their number who came to get him. I drove all over the area trying to find him after an hour and finally concluded that he had found a way home. Which he did. The downtown parking in this city takes a lot of patience, but at the end of the work shifts it's usually easier as a lot of government employees and lawyers leave early.You just never know, but I do have a handicap sticker so I can park free anywhere on the street.

 

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Hi @ritanofsinger, That's exactly what I was thinking when I read that; @ThatFLGuy is extremely lucky he has someone who cares and can help out when needed!!! That goes for everyone else here who has someone around to look after them and help out just because they want to. We always take such things for granted and then when you no longer have them, then that's when the reality kicks in!!! And it can be a pretty hard kick too!!
As for the government employees and lawyers leaving early, haven't you always found that's true on a Friday (any Friday or a Friday before a 3-day weekend) or the day before a major holiday???

 

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Try parking at the Cleveland clinic main campus. 10.00 to park and you have to walk a country mile just to get to the building, let alone doctors office.

 

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Well "they" say the exercise to get to the doctors office is good for you!! So that may be a health benefit right there!!

 

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artier == that is an outrageous charge. Surely there is a way to get a parking permit for a year or something or get reimbursed by having the clinic stamp your ticket or something. good grief. Don't they have shuttle buses from the parking lot to the facility? Is the clinic a non-profit or a for profit? Are there no accommodations for people who are disabled?

 

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"HELLO?"
The only parking issue with my local hospital is the lack of Handicapped Spaces. They put in the amount the "Code" calls for. Sheesh. That indicates a certain attitude that is not compatible with caring about your patients. In the other hand, the Doctors gave some of their closer-to-the-door "reserved" spaces back to the Handicapped. Is that cool or is that cool? Yes? [No? *]

It prompts the following survey. Pass it on to your local hospital.

It's Title is
---------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hello?"


1A) Hello?!?
You Are a Hospital? Yes? No?
1B) And a Clinic? Yes? No?

2) Hello?!?
Hospitals and Clinics have a higher rate of use by "Handicapped" people than most other businesses? Yes? No?

3) Hello?!?
3A) You are medical facilities? Yes? No?
3B) Medical facilities charge High Prices? Yes? No?
3C) It is hard enough to pay ordinary bills? Yes? No?
3D) Adding a parking charge at a Hospital is an insult to injury? Yes? [No? *]

4) Hello?!?
Are the bills your hospital runs up getting Paid? Yes? No?

5) Hello?
Is your CEO living high on the hog? Yes? [No? *]

6) Hello?!?
Is anyone out there listening? Yes? No?


* This option is not available for this question!?!

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My Big Seattle Hospital does the "validate your parking ticket from one of the many hospital parking garages" thing. Bless you, Virginia Mason!

All of the streets surrounding it for many blocks have City Parking Meters - and they don't get validated. True.
Thank you Seattle City Council. False

Well. That was fun....
Hello!

 

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AlasSouth - In Albuquerque at least I can park free at a city parking meter with my handicap sticker hanging from the rear view mirror. I assume it is part of the Federal Disabilities Act? I like your Q&A.

 

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AlasSouth I am getting a great education from everyone on this forum. I had never heard of Virginia Mason so I googled it. Thank you.

 

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Hi @AlasSouth, I like your questionnaire that you can send to your friendly local hospital! I agree that a hospital should have plenty of handicapped parking spaces and why they don't is as mysterious as the Mystery of the Black Hole!!!
As part of your questionnaire the question about the hospital or clinic being used by a higher rate of handicapped people than other businesses is most valid!! So why are the handicapped facilities and parking so stingy?
I know first hand it's tough to just be able to pay your regular bills and to have a hospital charge for parking does add insult to injury---literally!!! So why would they do that????
And I like the question about the hospital CEO living high off the hog!!!
Well that's a question I would love to ask the CEO at the Publix supermarkets here in Florida. With their prices for food skyrocketing somebody is living high off the hog at the store headquarters and it ain't us!!!

 

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I checked out Becker's Hospital Review website about the article "CHI Franciscan Virginia Mason Officially Merge: 5 Things You Should Know" and the one response by Paris Wolf. Interesting information.

 

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rotanofsinger: Thanks! Yes!
The "incontinence" issue connection is in this.
This state's law says you have to have a handicap license plate or hanging sticker to use a handicap space. Ticket is pricey. Neither here nor in Seattle, does that get you out of Parking Meter fees. Each state has the "freedom" to do more than required by the ADA, and other local gov't entities. Sounds like Albuquerque went above and beyond.
Also, I'll check out that Becker's Hospital Review, and thank you for pointing it out. Virginia Mason Franciscan Health (VMFH) is the new name if you started with VM. And they all come under an bigger umbrella, maybe called "Common Health". I just learned that. They cover ~37 states, and I've no idea what the "corporate structure" is, yet.
Regarding the merger. I'm a volunteer on VM's Patient Family Partners program. Currently, only able to participate by Zoom. Just did one. We had multiple meetings about the merger. What scared me - and others - was the Franciscans are under "The Catholic Bishops' Directive". I studied it the same way I did such things in College. A couple of days ago, we were assured that VM remains a secular organization.
But my study of the CBD found some very worrisome things. It involves more than just "religion". Medical conditions and care are, in my opinion, non-denominational. Strictly leaving out the hot religious items, I found some very very good concepts. Humanitarian. Approaching the ideal. Most of it was that way. I also found some contradictions, and some items that dismayed me (I'm trying to avoid loaded language). 2 primary examples were "pallitive care" and "end of life/hospice". In no way should those be politicized or become a religious issue. I am NOT insinuating a different issue. As a senior couple with plenty of medical issues, we have had to think about those, and nursing homes and assisted living.
The other concern was, even though we were assured that VM units would not be under the CBD for most things, studying the CBD showed the intended progression of a progressive "absorption". Maybe not quite a "takeover". Note I said "Most Things"?
The Medical System in this country accounts for the desperation and adherence to the "profit margin" motive, and the "competition" issue falls under that. VM is one of the top 10 in the country, don't know about the Franciscans, but to stay financially viable should not sacrifice the patients, darn it.
The merger was partly pushed by the monetary issues: economy of scale, for example. Also, making more medical clinics & hospitals available for members of both groups. At the latest Zoom, however, we were informed that medical records probably won't be merged or immediately available across platforms, any time soon, that Insurance issues may be different (Some of the Catholic facilities may not be "in-network", and may have different conditions & limitations for Insurance purposes.)
How about physicians at one group not knowing much about the other group? A referral, say to a Urologist in the other system, now becomes "problematic". VM uses the "Team" approach, and Docs and Nurses know each other or know of each other. They can suggest a compatible specialist, and know which of the 11 have the particular expertise for your particular issue.
In urology, for all sexes, just getting a Urologist whose answer isn't an automatic "over-active-bladder" (Greek for "I Don't Know".) Then there are UTIs.
Staff reaction at VM units? Sorry, I haven't been down from Alaska since before the Pandemic, so....

Okay: the direct relation of all this to Incontinence? I'll highlight only two (3?): pallative care & end-of-life. For males, Prostate cancer is deadly. This can involve Hospice.
Assume it is "cured", and it still is life-altering, and that collides with certain issues with the U.S. Bishops.
I was unable to determine the stances on DNR (Do Not Rescusitate), organ donor, and extended life support after brain death. I didn't get answers, except a laywoman told me organ donation is approved. I decided to spend time on other things.

And now my state government announced they got hacked - and the hack was of "databases containing resident's protected information" = our medical insurances files. We get "free" credit monitoring, time span unknown, emails will have the applications if you got the PFD (Permanent Fund Dividend), and then you have to go to a toll-free number to get help filling it out, hours limited. With our luck, this will be just as efficient and well planned and organized as the Covid vaccination program.... Hell, it's been decades since we've had to pay for credit monitoring. I'm serious. That how long and often the state has allowed itself to be hacked or "lost" our data. Mostly we got 3-years free monitoring, lately only 1 year. They lost not just our Insurance files, but our entire Medical files, once. That's not your doctors files, but it has a lot of protected info.
Oh joy.

 

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AlasSouth - You're very informed about the whole thing obviously and are involved in the health care given by the company. The two topics that apparently they are not willing to touch are abortion and assisted end of life. When I was a Christian those were hot topics for me too, but after giving up religion of any kind, I see the world differently and I've gone back to my more liberal leanings. Our healthcare providers and our government leaders cannot control our lives. We are human beings, we think, we make choices, regardless of the rules and laws. We are selfish, we look out for ourselves. Usually we each know what is best for us. We walk in our own shoes. We have allowed insurance companies to dominate our lives, and they have done this through their coffers (gained by charging exorbitant premiums and refusing to pay for some medical treatments) and lobbying for their own selfish reasons. This is truly a dog-eat-dog world and impossible to keep up with.

 

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AlasSouth - I got your last post but it had to be viewed from my inbox and I don't know how to access that on the forum. I know what you mean about kids and grandkids. My 4 "kids" are pushing 60 and one is already there. But I wonder about what kind of world we're leaving for the grandkids and great-grands.

 

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ritanofsinfer: Usually, when i get a notice of a private message, the link is directly to my private inbox on the forum. Also, the notice has the text I was sent. Apparently, that isn't always the case. Maybe there's a setting to allow that. If there are more than one in the "in-box", the old ones I've read are clear and the new ones are sort of darkened. You click on the darkened ones. You can put the old ones you've read in the trash, usually, unless there is a back&forth thread you are doing.
Thanks for your contribution to "visible".
I got involved in our employer's insurance, several times. Twice at Contract Negotiations, even, and for 9 years as a "Business Agent". The people we negotiated with were in the same Insurance Plan, for pity's sake. Maybe that helped us get along, on that topic, for awhile. Then, even that changed.
I'd sold/serviced Life & Health Insurnance as a college student, so got my Illinois license. Those were gentler times, some Insurance Co were half decent. Especially the Mutuals. The company I worked for specialized in contracts written in English, not "lawyerese". Fancy that. Didn't take me long to figure out I wasn't cut out for that job, but I did put the learning to good use, years later.
In the first years with the Union, the job wasn't so adversarial. We got some things done, cooperatively. Not everything, but some. Maybe quite a bit. Then it got worse and worse. It became like the present-day Congress: Totally disfunctional. It broke my heart. All that work, all that caring. I still have my bitter moments, 18 years later, when the "night thoughts" come. The what ifs. You do what you can and resolve to go on. We learn that on here, too.
I do worry that while "you" make the decision what to do with "your" body, it is like the idea that "you" have the freedom & right to swing "your" fist - that is, until it meets "my" nose. That's how I feel about the anti-vaxxers. There is an ugly backlash going on, right now. If the anti-vaxxers don't care about "my" life, why should "I" care about "theirs"? Let "them" go to the back of the triage line. That is insiduously attractive - and a damming moral stance. And I understand it, God help me.
There is a moral point somewhere, somewhen, when we have to consider the good and the rights of others, too. There has to be, or what's the Universe for? The church isn't wrong about that.
There are still people who care - this forum proves it.
I appreciate your views on what's going on in the the Health world - and there are more hot items, I found out, but maybe it has to get worse before people decide it has to get better - and then do something about it. Two and Two and Fifty make a Million. That's a very old, very simple math equation; they teach it in kindergarten. Or used to.
Maybe then we'll get some real progress with Incontinence.
God Bless.

 

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Flguy just be aware if they deny you disability don't be surprised. Its virtually EVERYONE who gets denied so get a disability lawyer, they usually take a fee of something like the first months disability check after its won.
Thats how disability claims are successful.
Sounds like a scam. Yes it sure does but forewarned is forearms if you are denied disability. And here's hoping for you to get it quick and eas were all rooting for you.