Failure of United Way 211 service

Submitted by lmcshane on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 09:52.

Every day someone is faced with a medical emergency.  My situation occurred during the care of a loved one on a Saturday.  Try to find medical treatment on a Saturday or Sunday.

In Cuyahoga County, most public employees are trained to use the service 211.

http://www.211cleveland.org/ContactUs.aspx

My first reaction to the medical emergency, which I incorrectly assessed as not life threatening, was to find an urgent care or primary care facility that would take blood and properly assess the symptoms. 

I have been conditioned to not burden an ER with this type of need.  I made the wrong decision--I live near Metrohealth and I should have taken my partner to Metrohealth first.

Instead, I called 211.  After a wait, the operator fumbled and gave me the phone number for the "closest" urgent care--Fairview Park Hospital.  It turns out that most hospitals are seemingly phasing these out.  Fairview has closed their urgent care service and refers folks to their Emergency Room.

I had heard about Parma's urgent care.  Ditto.  Also, closed.  We both knew a friend who had been treated on a weekend at Southwest General.  We ended up going to that Urgent Care in Brookpark, but by the skeletal services there we sensed that this facility, too--will be phased out.  The doctor at the Southwest Urgent Care was competent, but could not order the tests that would have addressed the needs of my partner.

She administered one higher dosage of the medicine he had been prescribed and gave us a prescription for a much more expensive medicine.  The patient's condition did not improve and the next working day that we could (Tuesday), we sought additional medical treatment.  Fortunately, through my insured care provider, I received the information,  I should have received from 211.  Metrohealth operates a Sat/Sun walk-in clinic on Broadway--there are additional Metrohealth clinics in the City of Cleveland and in Cuyahoga County suburbs:

http://www.metrohealth.org/body.cfm?id=744

If you don't have insurance or full insurance coverage--I recommend that you take one day to get rated at Metrohealth and get into their system. Metrohealth also offers dental and mental health treatments.

If you are unsure about any health crisis--go to the Emergency Room first.  It's the best option available to any of us these days.  That, and a rabbit's foot. 

How much do we pay for 211??

( categories: )

Metro ER....

Submitted by ANGELnWard14 on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 14:00.

My Friend died in the ER of Metro just 4 years ago.....WAITING TO BE SEEN...UNINSURED.... put to the end of the list....

Another time; I took my daughter and sat there for about 6 hours waiting...before I got so pissed that I left and went to another hospital and was seen within minutes.

Lutheran is usually pretty quick for ER needs because most folks are not aware of their availability.

Fairview is excellent for Pediatric ER stuff.

Cleveland Clinic main campus has some really awesome staff and care providers too. They are usually pretty thorough and provide timely service...but I have noted recently that they have an influx of ER cases bogging down their ER.

METRO HEALTH MEDICAL CENTER MAY BE A WORLD CLASS HOSPITAL...BUT THEY WOULD NEVER BE MY FIRST CHOICE FOR ER TREATMENT. THEY ARE BLATANTLY OVERWHELEMED AND HAVE BEEN FOR YEARS. THEY CAN AFFORD COUNTLESS IMPROVEMENTS AND MUCH MORE; BUT THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO ENOUGH ER STAFF TO SUSTAIN OPERATIONS IN A TIMELY MANNER AT THAT ER. IT'S OFTEN UGLY...

HAVE YOU SEEN THE CRACKS IN ALL THE NEW CEMENT OVER BY THE TOWERS, PARKING GARAGE, AND NEW PARKING LOT NEXT TO VALENTINE???? BRAND NEW CEMENT SIDEWALKS HAVE CRACKS FOR HUNDREDS OF FEET...LOOKS LIKE A MINI EARTH QUAKE TOTALLY DESTROYED ALL THOSE NEW SIDEWALK PADS.....GOVERNMENT TAX PAYERS PAID FOR THAT WORK TOO....ISN'T THAT SPECIAL????

Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"

Share

FAILURE OF THE CITIZENS OF THE COMMUNITY

Submitted by ANGELnWard14 on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 14:03.

HAS RESULTED IN FAILURES COUNTY WIDE...BY ALLOWING PUBLIC SERVANTS TO GROW AND SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL WITHOUT HOLDING THEM CONSISTENTLY ACCOUNTABLE.

Who holds these public servants accountable? 

 

Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"

Share

Metrohealth is better

Submitted by lmcshane on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 20:48.

I agree with your past assessment, but I give Metrohealth some credit for improvements as of late.  We don't have a lot of options.  The Broadway Clinic does take walk-ins, though they don't explicitly advertise it.  Regardless of where you go it seems to be a crap shot. 

(Planning, design and contracts steered in the pathetic construction you point out occurred during Sidaris/Greco/Carroll days and were obviously awarded to morons--I remember the flooded ER a few years back--it's actually below the street grade... :)