“Health Care – We been re-formed”

This month I put my Shrine Club newsletter out a few days earlier because we are having an Easter Egg hunt before the end of the month and I wanted to get the notice to my readers in time. Last month I didn't write an article and I wanted to get back on track for the April issue. I always try to produce an article that not only will interest readers but promote the cause of Shriners as well. After a couple of weeks being ill from a virus both my wife and I contracted as dealt with, I also had some hypertension issues. I take five different blood pressure medicines, both inherited and resulting in a lifestyle from my disability. My regular doctor asked me to see a specialist which turned out to be a bad experience and several days of harsh side effects from a new medicine. Things have balanced out and I have actually lost eight pounds and revised my diet to an even lower sodium and healthier choices. Not as much fun, but healthier.

So I decided to make my article about an aspect of health care most people don't consider. Since 1922 Shriners Hospitals for Children has given free specialized medical care to close to a million children. Our hospitals have a budget of around 2.2 million dollars per day. Obviously it is something I believe in. I hope you enjoy this month's offerings.

“Health Care,” you can’t escape the words anymore. Every day we are bombarded with news and discussions about Health Care. In between the talk about health care you get the commercials for the drugs which will vastly improve your life, so just ask your doctor and by the way this drug could also cause stroke, heart-attack, nausea, suicidal thoughts, death and a desire to gamble. That’s alright the next commercial is a 1-800 number for a lawyer to contact if you had a problem from taking a drug. Then you can cash in your structured settlement and buy more drugs so you can hire another lawyer and start the whole cycle again.

Recently between a virus and updating my prescriptions I have been involved in a health care reform of my own. My regular doctor sent me to a specialist, even though I clearly told him that the last specialist I saw was an idiot. This specialist wasn’t much different and I really felt the need to punch him in the head. I tried to talk to him but he wasn’t listening, he already knew it all. Even though I had given him my entire medical history, he told me to walk; then when I got up and left the room he said, “You can’t walk.” Duh? I had just told him that. Health care is a maze of variables, vastly confusing; full of doubts, speculations and apprehensions. Imagine a parent trying to find help for their child with a burn injury or orthopedic condition, legs, feet, arms, back, etc. Who do you talk too? Who cares about the patient rather than the money?

What about the child, a four or five year old trying to understand why these people in white coats are looking at them and talking about things they can’t understand? Shriners Hospitals for Children have Child Life Specialists which are pediatric health care professionals who work with patients, their family and others involved in the child’s care in order to help them manage stress and understand various medical procedures; minimizing the negative impact of situational disruptions while maintaining individual growth and development and family relationships. Child Life Specialists collaborate with parents and other health care professionals to meet the distinctive requirements of individual children. Because a child can feel overwhelmed, child life professionals help children gain a sense of familiarity and control of this new environment through play and exploration inside the health care facility. Although child life specialists typically function in the hospital setting, their skills make them especially trained to support children and families in other settings. Because of the physical, emotional, and cognitive stressors that accompany a hospital stay they use child-centered interventions and pain techniques to work with the patient and family members to help our children cope with hospitalization, surgery and medical procedures. The child life specialists I have met with Shriners Hospital are extremely impressive. That’s what I needed the last couple of weeks, a low sodium/sugar-free/low-fat grumpy old guy specialist to help me cope with my health care. Maybe I wouldn’t have snarled at that skinny person when I left the doctor’s office.

What about Health Care reform? What about Health Care costs? Look on the Shriners web site or any Shriners publication and you will see these words.
“Shriners Hospitals for Children® is a health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing specialty pediatric care, innovative research and outstanding teaching programs. Every year, Shriners Hospitals for Children® provides care for thousands of kids with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate, in a family-centered environment with no financial obligation to patients or families. It's how Shriners Hospitals for Children® has been Changing the World through Caring for Kids since 1922.”

Since 1922! Think about it, how much money have the Shriners Hospitals and this fraternity saved families, insurance companies and governmental services since 1922? (Billions) We have provided specialized care for children since they were a few weeks old until after their eighteenth birthday. We have several children in the Hamasa area alone we have treated for fifteen years and longer. We have treated children from every state in the union plus about 49 different countries, all at no cost to the patient. The recent economical times is requiring us to start taking in third party pay, such as insurance and Medicaid. Still we will not have a financial requirement to the patient or family. Talk about your health care reform, Shriners since 1922 have done more than talk.

Shriners Hospitals is not just a pediatric clinic; it is a full blown international health care system. In 2009, we had 111 research projects, 31 research fellowships and 20 shared research facilities. This innovative research has benefited not only our patients but the entire world. In the past 20 years alone, more than 8,000 physicians have received residency education or postgraduate fellowship within the health care system. Talk about your health care reform, Shriners since 1922 have done more than discuss which political party favors what.

I know the readers of this newsletter have seen me repeatedly state that every Shriner and his wife need to visit one or more of our hospitals. I know you have read about the top quality pediatric care provided by our hospitals. That is because every Shriner and his family are involved in something major, something life changing and something so huge, it fathoms the imagination. It is worth repeating and witnessing.

What is Shriners health care reform? It is those Nobles from Laurel selling ribs to raise money. It’s the people in Meridian standing on a street corner selling onions and the Pontotoc Shrine Club members turning in a big stack of sold raffle tickets. It’s setting up somewhere with an information paper in hand giving out hamburgers to shoppers just so they will know we exist and can help children. Health care reform is every hospital application sent in and every child helped. It is also that smiling guy in a red fez saying good morning to a Shriners Hospital employee after a seven-plus hour drive; smiling because he knows the real truth. He has seen the miracles happening daily at our 22 facilities. Health care reform is participating by attending club and temple meetings and functions, you don’t have to dedicate your life, but you know you can attend when you can. Personally I have sponsored 15 Shrine patients all because someone encouraged me to get involved.

When people start talking about health care, you can always mention Shriners Hospitals for Children and the vast amount of children helped since 1922. You never know, someone might know of a child we can help and improve their life. You want to be reformed? See that mother with tears in her eyes because finally someone is helping her child. Let people know how Shriners Hospitals for Children has reformed health care since 1922.

Me? Well if you see me flogging the salt, sugar and fat out of a skinny dude with a salad bowl; it’s just me working on my health care reform. Hey, he said to get some form of exercise. “Having fun and helping Children.”