The Hospital Waiting Game
I went to the hospital yesterday for a checkup. Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with me now that wasn’t already wrong with me before leaving for China. I asked my supervisor if she could find a doctor who spoke English, so nobody would have the uncomfortable task of translating my personal problems to the only guy who really needed to know. The following week, as the two of us walked into the hospital, she turned to me and asked, “So can you explain your problem to the doctor in Chinese?”
She ended up with the uncomfortable task of translating my personal problems to the only guy who really needed to know. And now the two of us can never look at each other the same again.
Anyone who stays in China longer than a month week day will probably have to go to the hospital, and, oh boy, it’s a fun experience. It can easily turn into an all-day ordeal, since you’re not allowed to make appointments ahead of time. It’s first come, first serve, and people are still trying to cut in front of you at every opportunity. I found it amusing, too, that, when I went into the doctors’ office, none of them looked very busy. In fact, one of the doctors was playing Solitaire on the computer. And you thought they only pulled that gag in the movies.
The bottom floor of the hospital was like a bank with several cashier windows. Every time there was new insight into my checkup, we were sent back to the cashier to pay for the next treatment/examination/medicine. The overall process cost me 500 RMB, or about $70. That’s pretty good, considering I don’t have health insurance here, and back home, the co-pays and prescriptions would have run about the same. For China, though, these checkups are considered expensive. My supervisor said she had to pay 1,000 RMB just to have a cold treated. Some people barely make that much in a month! If hospital visits run such a high gamut, it makes you wonder why everyone is so eager to head to the doctor whenever they get sick.
The nice thing about being at a Chinese hospital is that everyone’s so preoccupied with their own illnesses, they don’t much care that a foreigner is in their midst.
Loading ...
Comment: