Home > Lawrenceville.Talk > Archives > 2006 > October > 31
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Atlanta or Gwinnett: Where’s the best health care?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A few months ago during dinner at home my 11-year-old son was suddenly unable to breathe easily.
At first I thought he was faking because he’s delivered many dramatic anti-vegetable acting performances. (One night he even vomited on cue at the sight of Brussels sprouts.)
So I said, “Is this about the peas and carrots? Because you’re going to eat those peas and carrots, and you’re going to like them!”
By this time, though, he was becoming more and more frightened at his inability to take a deep breath. Then I became frightened when I realized he needed medical attention.
Thus begins the tale of how we ended up at the Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville.
My son’s sudden illness made me ask myself what many inside-the-Perimeter residents who move outside the Perimeter” probably ask about health care: Should I drive to a medical facility downtown? Aren’t in-town hospitals better than suburban ones?
Personally, I like my health care to be high-end. I want my doctors to be studying the latest medical theories. I want their offices to be so technologically advanced that it’s like having an appointment at a NASA space station. I prefer they treat any illness I have with tactical expertise like an episode straight out of Battlestar Galactica.
So imagine how I felt that night sitting on the floor in the Gwinnett Medical Center emergency room. Me, my wheezing kid and a whole lot of other potential patients parked cross-legged on shiny linoleum because there weren’t enough chairs in the ER.
I learned that night that their emergency department stays busy seeing as many as 300 patients every day. Other stats on Gwinnett Medical System: More than 4,000 employees and 750 physicians with the primary hospital facility located on Medical Center Boulevard in Lawrenceville.
The third largest employer in Gwinnett County, the Gwinnett Hospital System also has several specialty clinics including cancer care and cardiac rehabilitation. They also offer specialized women’s health services and a variety of community health programs, all right here in my Gwinnett County backyard.
It was unbelievably crowded that night and the idea of sick people sitting on floors disturbed me. Still, my son received great care when he was finally seen by a doctor, great bedside manner and the same in-hospital asthma treatment he would have received had I driven 25 miles into downtown.
I know this because I asked one of our pediatricians the very next morning. The pediatrician with the high-definition medical equipment and the in-town address with the expensive parking kindly told me I did the right thing by not trying to drive my wheezing son all the way to his children’s hospital in Atlanta.
I’m glad to know I have quality health care nearby. And my son’s glad that since that episode, peas and carrots mixed together are off the dinner menu.
Do you select health care services based on expertise regardless of location? Or do you choose doctors close to home?
Permalink | Comments (10) | Post your comment | Categories: Jacqueline Bullard
