Mis-Adventures in Healthcare

My new job's health benefits don't kick in for another couple of months. I wish I could have them right away, especially since my wife and I spent the better part of yesterday going in and out of clinics and pharmacies trying to get some prescription medication for something that's been bothering her for a long time. So I got the day off from work, we woke up early and headed to the Valley Health Clinic in Glendale.

After standing in line for about half an hour, my wife got her appointment. Too bad it was for 1:40 pm that day. We had gotten there at 8 am to get this thing taken care of early. I guess the clinic had other plans. Although, this let us do a couple of things in the meantime, like heading out to the Social Security office (where we were first in line) to get me a replacement card. We also went to Mervyn's for an exchange, and headed out to have brunch at this great (but a bit on the pricey side) little place in Eagle Rock called Pat & Lorraine's. At this point, it's around 11:30 am and we still have two hours to kill. We head home and pop-in "True Romance" into the DVD player. Great movie, just arrived from Columbia House, highly recommend it.

By now you must be wondering, is this post at all about healthcare? Sure it is. But you're waiting just like we were. Empathize a little will ya. 1:30 rolls around and we head out back to Glendale for the appointment. We sit around for about 30 minutes, and then the doctor sees Heather. Now, she had been to this same clinic at the end of August and gotten a prescription from them that did not work. This is why we were back. She sees the same doctor. The doctor looks her over a bit, examines for scant seconds, and fills out a prescription. Fine, great. It's a different medication, so I'm pretty hopefull that this'll work.

The only thing is we have to drive to Van Nuys to get the damn thing. That's a 40 mile round trip, and with gas prices these days, it's not a trip I want to make. 40 miles is my total weekly commute to and from work. But it's a necessity. We have to take care of the situation, so Heather and I hop into the car and head out there. We arrive, and she waits in line for a few minutes while I take a seat. She comes over to me shortly after with a look of despair. They don't make the prescription that the doctor gave her anymore. I am a bit ticked off about this. So we head back to the clinic in Glendale.

Heather doesn't want to go in, but I do. There's no way I'm paying 50 bucks for this doctor visit and not getting anything out of it. I ask to speak with the manager and supervisor, which come out to meet me in a few minutes. They are very understanding about the situation and have the same incompetent doctor see Heather again. She does, and she apologizes for sending us to Van Nuys for nothing. Unfortunately, the only thing she can prescribe is the same thing she gave her the last time, but this time, in conjunction with a steroid cream . . . it should work. I'm rolling my eyes through the whole thing and biting my tongue. First of all, this damn doctor can barely speak English, and I'm questioning the validity of her credentials. But it's close to 4:30 pm by now, and both Heather and I are tired. We take the prescription and leave.

But not home, we have to go back to Van Nuys and do another 40 mile round trip. So we get there around 5 pm and hand the paper to the people there. They say we have to wait 2 hours. This we cannot do, since Heather and I had a meeting to attend that evening, and waiting 2 hours, and then having to head back home to get ready for this meeting would be chronologically impossible. They say we can come back tomorrow (today) to pick up the medication, but they close at 6:30 pm. Not good. Today I can't take off from work again. I would not dare stretch the generosity of my supervisors and ask even to take off early. So now, as soon as I get out of work (5:30) I have to speed back home (5:45) and do another 40 mile round trip to get to this office (6:15). I just hope I can make it there because inconveniently, this piece of shit pharmacy is not open during the weekends.

Wish us luck if you're reading this. I will most likely need it to avoid some traffic on the way up there.