The healthcare options here are lacking.
By 'here', I mean in this area of Florida that
we are currently in on the east coast.
(the part that we have been in for the past 4 months)
....wait....we have only been here in this area 4 months?!
Seems longer.
Again, I'm comparing this part of Florida to our
'home' of Columbus, OH.
Columbus definitely comes out on top in healthcare options.
Hands down.
Not saying that the actual doctors/nurses in Florida are bad.
In fact, one of our good friends here in Florida is a nurse, and I know she is fabulous!
I'm saying the options for care here are slim.
In Columbus, there are 10 hospitals!
(Since it's the 15th largest city in the country, of course, it has a lot of hospitals to be able to accommodate all the people).
Riverside Methodist Hospital (where Sage was born and where I beat cancer's butt!)
Grant Medical Center (one of the nation's best trauma hospitals and where Scott was born!)
AND a hospital dedicated to just children:
Next up, are the countless urgent cares.
I say 'countless' because I googled it, and didn't get an exact number.
Just know they are everywhere.
Best thing about the urgent cares is that there are tons urgent cares for adults,
but then there are 17 urgent cares just for children!
Urgent cares are great because hospital ERs don't have to be clogged up with
'non-urgent' matters.
Plus, I know with our insurance, that it's much cheaper to go to an urgent care if we can instead of the ER.
And yes, Florida does have urgent cares, but no pediatric urgent cares.
(Copay for urgent care = $50. Copay for ER = $150)
Lastly, my favorite healthcare option that Columbus provides are the
Minute Clinics that are located in CVSs, Walgreens, and grocery stores....
places with pharmacies. Nurse practitioners are on-site.
These are walk-in clinics like urgent cares are...no appointment needed.
They are great if you think you might have strep throat, pink eye, ear infection, poison ivy...
some kind of non-urgent issue, but an issue that needs to be addressed.
(Copay for Minute Clinic = $20)
Since they are located in a place with a pharmacy,
it makes picking up your prescription a breeze.
Florida does have Minute Clinics, but I think the closest one is 25 miles away...
so not exactly a minute clinic if you have to drive 30 minutes to get to one.
Here's an example of one:
So, that's just the hospitals, urgent cares, and Minute Clinics.
Then you have a billion options in doctors including speciality doctors.
You would think that I am a healthcare nut.
That I love going to the doctor.
That I'm all about 'conventional' meds.
Nope.
I'm all about the holistic approach to health if it's an option.
Unfortunately, essential oils don't cure cancer.
Essential oils don't cure my son's asthma (I tried!)
Essential oils don't cure my son's food allergies.
When you see your son turn blue from not breathing,
you kinda like to know there's a place that can help him.
Luckily, I did find a pediatrician here in Florida that
(so far) I like. She's, however, not our
Dr. Sant at WholeKids Pediatrics in Ohio.
Dr. Sant is a holistic pediatrician
who prescribes conventional meds when necessary.
She sells Juice Plus, essential oils, herbs, supplements in her office.
Yoga and massage are also done in office.
But when she looks at you and says,
"He really needs an antibiotic this time."
or
"He really needs a steroid this time."
You trust her.
When she hugs you and says,
"You are doing a great job being their mom"
you know you are going to miss her when you leave town.
I called our health insurance company to get a list of primary care doctors for me.
I had 3 requirements for a doctor.
(1) Our insurance was accepted by them.
(2) The doctor is within 20 miles from me.
(3) The doctor be female.
The insurance rep emailed me a list of 21 doctors.
I started going down the list and calling them.
I FINALLY found a doctor that would accept me as a new patient when
I was on doctor 17 on the list!
17th in line!!
No one was accepting new patients
or
they only took CASH (not health savings card)
or
the first available appointment wasn't for another 4 months.
I gave up trying to find an endocrinologist because there just isn't any here.
There are two...one isn't accepting new patients and the other is a pediatric endo.
Even my primary doctor said, "Yeah, there just isn't enough options here."
I do want to say that I have been to the 'imaging center' here for quite a few tests, and it is a great facility. Very nice and professional there, on-time, clean, and overall a great experience there each time I've been there.
So if you finished reading this, I'm impressed because this was a REALLY boring post!!
I called our health insurance company to get a list of primary care doctors for me.
I had 3 requirements for a doctor.
(1) Our insurance was accepted by them.
(2) The doctor is within 20 miles from me.
(3) The doctor be female.
The insurance rep emailed me a list of 21 doctors.
I started going down the list and calling them.
I FINALLY found a doctor that would accept me as a new patient when
I was on doctor 17 on the list!
17th in line!!
No one was accepting new patients
or
they only took CASH (not health savings card)
or
the first available appointment wasn't for another 4 months.
I gave up trying to find an endocrinologist because there just isn't any here.
There are two...one isn't accepting new patients and the other is a pediatric endo.
Even my primary doctor said, "Yeah, there just isn't enough options here."
I do want to say that I have been to the 'imaging center' here for quite a few tests, and it is a great facility. Very nice and professional there, on-time, clean, and overall a great experience there each time I've been there.
So if you finished reading this, I'm impressed because this was a REALLY boring post!!
No comments:
Post a Comment