Joe Biden claims that Trump is our "first racist President." Ha. First, let's be clear. Most of the originals actually were racists. Some were even involved in the slave trade. In fact, the reason smelly white liberal protestors are tearing down statues -- other than trying to exploit the issue of race to bolster their hopes of achieving socialism -- is ostensibly that they were all racists. I guess Joe hasn't been paying attention.
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Thursday, July 23, 2020
Saturday, July 18, 2020
Not Great News
So, I had the chance to visit the hospital today. I punched a palm-sized hole in the back of my calf and I had to visit the wound clinic. Very painful. Go figure. Anyways, what I found at the hospital was a little worrying. They've laid off about half their staff. Hmm. Let's discuss.
When I got to the hospital, it struck me how empty the parking lot was. I figured it was just early, but it really wasn't. I used the valet, which I always do, but which is the only option right now. I know these people pretty well because I tend to talk to everyone and some of them love to chat. So we caught up on old times.
They told me that about half the nonmedical staff got laid off. Most of the valets got laid off and those who remain work about 20 hours a week instead of 40. Inside, I ran into a couple nurses I know from the wound clinic. They were checking temperatures at the front door. Again, I stopped and we chatted. They told me the hospital has laid off half the nurses as well, with many more having their hours slashed, and they gotten rid of a number of doctors. The one nurse said that this was the first time since February that she'd actually had a 40 hour week. The other went three months without working. I even came across a room where they stored a ton of modern computer gear which the nurses wheel around, suggesting massive cuts.
Hmm.
Why? Well, it turns out that there are several causes. First, the hospital used Covid as an excuse to cut things that were never all that profitable. In the past, I guess, they didn't want to be seen as lacking services and now they don't care, so they slashed away. Similarly, after buying up every practice in town when Obamacare came out, they are now outsourcing everything. Third, a lot of patients stopped coming for anything that isn't really serious, making the problem worse.
What worries me are two things. First, the lesson from Covid was that we were unprepared for the unexpected. We simply did not have enough capacity for anything more than ordinary care. The solution was obvious: build excess capacity into the system. The hospital's response is the opposite. It cut capacity and slashed its facilities to the bone to save money and raise profit. If there is a serious emergency now, having this big pretty hospital will provide pointless because its hollow. That's not good -- and I suspect medicine isn't the only field that is doing this either. Part of this I put on the ownership of the hospital, who are entirely about the bottom line and being as profitable as possible. Law firms act like this. It doesn't matter if you make money for them, you need to make enough money to justify their time. Apparently, hospitals are going to this model.
I also put this on the political class who continue to regulate the hell out of hospitals but have done nothing to require increased capacity and fund it. Unfortunately, I think this shows that the powers-that-be do not have the public's interests at heart... or just aren't that smart.
The other thing that worries me is the depressed activity. If people are skipping medical needs out of fear or finance, then times are much worse than they seem. On the surface, things seem to be running nearly normally again around here, but this suggests that's an illusion. I'm curious what you all are seeing where you are at? Are things quasi-normal or is that an illusion?
Finally, while I'm in the process of giving bad news, something I have long feared is proving true: there will be no vaccine. It's turning out that the antibodies created by having Covid don't last long enough to give meaningful immunity. All you get is a couple months at the most. That means this thing won't be going away, even after most people have had it. Backing this up, follow the money and you'll see that most of the drug companies have gone from working on cures/vaccines to figuring out how to treat the symptoms. That's not good.
Ultimately, I think we will have to accept that this thing will stay with us or we're going to have to do something more drastic. I guess we'll see.
Thoughts?
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When I got to the hospital, it struck me how empty the parking lot was. I figured it was just early, but it really wasn't. I used the valet, which I always do, but which is the only option right now. I know these people pretty well because I tend to talk to everyone and some of them love to chat. So we caught up on old times.
They told me that about half the nonmedical staff got laid off. Most of the valets got laid off and those who remain work about 20 hours a week instead of 40. Inside, I ran into a couple nurses I know from the wound clinic. They were checking temperatures at the front door. Again, I stopped and we chatted. They told me the hospital has laid off half the nurses as well, with many more having their hours slashed, and they gotten rid of a number of doctors. The one nurse said that this was the first time since February that she'd actually had a 40 hour week. The other went three months without working. I even came across a room where they stored a ton of modern computer gear which the nurses wheel around, suggesting massive cuts.
Hmm.
Why? Well, it turns out that there are several causes. First, the hospital used Covid as an excuse to cut things that were never all that profitable. In the past, I guess, they didn't want to be seen as lacking services and now they don't care, so they slashed away. Similarly, after buying up every practice in town when Obamacare came out, they are now outsourcing everything. Third, a lot of patients stopped coming for anything that isn't really serious, making the problem worse.
What worries me are two things. First, the lesson from Covid was that we were unprepared for the unexpected. We simply did not have enough capacity for anything more than ordinary care. The solution was obvious: build excess capacity into the system. The hospital's response is the opposite. It cut capacity and slashed its facilities to the bone to save money and raise profit. If there is a serious emergency now, having this big pretty hospital will provide pointless because its hollow. That's not good -- and I suspect medicine isn't the only field that is doing this either. Part of this I put on the ownership of the hospital, who are entirely about the bottom line and being as profitable as possible. Law firms act like this. It doesn't matter if you make money for them, you need to make enough money to justify their time. Apparently, hospitals are going to this model.
I also put this on the political class who continue to regulate the hell out of hospitals but have done nothing to require increased capacity and fund it. Unfortunately, I think this shows that the powers-that-be do not have the public's interests at heart... or just aren't that smart.
The other thing that worries me is the depressed activity. If people are skipping medical needs out of fear or finance, then times are much worse than they seem. On the surface, things seem to be running nearly normally again around here, but this suggests that's an illusion. I'm curious what you all are seeing where you are at? Are things quasi-normal or is that an illusion?
Finally, while I'm in the process of giving bad news, something I have long feared is proving true: there will be no vaccine. It's turning out that the antibodies created by having Covid don't last long enough to give meaningful immunity. All you get is a couple months at the most. That means this thing won't be going away, even after most people have had it. Backing this up, follow the money and you'll see that most of the drug companies have gone from working on cures/vaccines to figuring out how to treat the symptoms. That's not good.
Ultimately, I think we will have to accept that this thing will stay with us or we're going to have to do something more drastic. I guess we'll see.
Thoughts?
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