I had to take my wife to the ER @ Tampa General early evening yesterday and what a shitpot that place is !
She had severe abdominal pains and since she has already had two scheduled stomach surgeries in the last two years we could not take any chance plus she is tough as nails so if she says it hurts it hurts.
So after a 17 minute high speed run from our home in south east Brandon to TGH I arrive at the ER. I was so pleased to be greeted by the countless number of vagrants and broke ass mo-fo's with no insurance or means of paying plugging up the line.
After what appeared to take a lifetime (two hours) we get checked in by nurse cratchet just to be told it is about a five hour wait to actually see a doc !
I reply with this is a fucking ER right ( as my wife is curled in the fetal position moaning) ?
She replies with if I have had people here waiting to be seen for 6+ hours and she expects it to be longer. To her utter amazement I state I have good insurance, have already spoken to her Dr., and he is awaiting our arrival, please page him ! Long story short she says no one gets rushed through the ER short of coming in on a am-bu-lane, thinks I am full of shit, thinks she is going to call my bluff, actually pages the Dr. 20 minutes later, and guess who shows up right away ? Her Dr. and assistant.
We get carted off to a room, x-rayed, blood tested, and discharged in less than one hour. Aparantley this would normally take 10 hours in the Tampa General ER.
Turns out my wife had some blockage in her intestines that luckily did not need another surgery, they gave her some medication to "flush her out"
and we were home by midnight but still almost 4.5 hours later.
Moral of the story, do not go to Tampa General for a emergency. IF you have to, call a am-bu-lance to pick you up. Turns out Tampa General is backed up like this all of the time because they take indigent care and by the looks of the clientele and smell of cheap booze it was no surprise. And while sitting there through all of that last night the vast majority did not need ER care but they go there instead of a regular Dr. because it is quicker when you do not have insurance.
The wifey is quite a bit better today and as you can see I need a adult beverage.
Thanks for listening.
[/rant]