GOING TO THE HOSPITAL
Randy writes:
Part of the Visa application involves having a medical check done, I'll take you through the steps involved to get this done.
The company I work for has arranged for the services of a relocation agency to help us through the pains of registering with the government, finding a place to live and getting us acclimated to the Shanghai scene. One of their employees met me in the hotel lobby this morning, I had already been briefed on what to bring, extra photos and my passport. We took a taxi to the hospital and went inside. First order of business was to check-in, here they took my photos, passport, entered me into their system and gave me number 039. I then had a one sheet questionaire to fill out very similar to the one we get from our doctors back home.
After waiting a few minutes my number was called and I went into another office and had a short interview with a lady who took another picture of me for their system. I was then instructed to move over one desk and answer another couple of questions. then went down the hall a short distance and provided payment for the tests I was scheduled to take...702rmb which is about $90.
After payment I went into another room and changed into a robe. Then was weighed and measured for height. Next stop was down the hall into another room for a blood test. A nurse at a desk in the middle of the room is performing blood test while 6 other people are waiting to have theirs drawn or are in a recovery process waiting to have a bandaid applied. So as I wait (and try to look away) several others ahead of me have their arms slapped to raise the vein(?) and get the needle. By the time my turn rolls around I'm in a full blown anxiety attack but sit down and put my arm on the towel and await further instruction. She ties my upper arm with the rubber hose, tells me to make a fist and gives me a couple slaps on the arms before plunging in. She should of slapped my face. It was over in just a few seconds, she applied a cotton ball and said, "hold for 3 minutes." Everyone else had a bandaid applied and left the room when their 3 minutes were up lets just say I held it for 3 minutes and stuck around a little bit longer for a piece of chocolate and a glass of water, might as well get my money's worth.
After that ordeal the rest was really a cakewalk, I had my blood pressure checked in one room, my eyes checked (including a color blind test) in another, an ultrasound of my stomach area in another, EKG in another and chest x-ray in another room. Then it was time to change back into my clothes and check out. All total I was in and out in less than an hour. Quite the assembly line process, I know in the hospitals back home you wait an hour before even seeing someone. All the procedures were done in the same hall, none of this going to different floor levels or going from the radiology department to the EKG unit. Very efficient, and all for less than $90, why can't we do that in our society?
Part of the Visa application involves having a medical check done, I'll take you through the steps involved to get this done.
The company I work for has arranged for the services of a relocation agency to help us through the pains of registering with the government, finding a place to live and getting us acclimated to the Shanghai scene. One of their employees met me in the hotel lobby this morning, I had already been briefed on what to bring, extra photos and my passport. We took a taxi to the hospital and went inside. First order of business was to check-in, here they took my photos, passport, entered me into their system and gave me number 039. I then had a one sheet questionaire to fill out very similar to the one we get from our doctors back home.
After waiting a few minutes my number was called and I went into another office and had a short interview with a lady who took another picture of me for their system. I was then instructed to move over one desk and answer another couple of questions. then went down the hall a short distance and provided payment for the tests I was scheduled to take...702rmb which is about $90.
After payment I went into another room and changed into a robe. Then was weighed and measured for height. Next stop was down the hall into another room for a blood test. A nurse at a desk in the middle of the room is performing blood test while 6 other people are waiting to have theirs drawn or are in a recovery process waiting to have a bandaid applied. So as I wait (and try to look away) several others ahead of me have their arms slapped to raise the vein(?) and get the needle. By the time my turn rolls around I'm in a full blown anxiety attack but sit down and put my arm on the towel and await further instruction. She ties my upper arm with the rubber hose, tells me to make a fist and gives me a couple slaps on the arms before plunging in. She should of slapped my face. It was over in just a few seconds, she applied a cotton ball and said, "hold for 3 minutes." Everyone else had a bandaid applied and left the room when their 3 minutes were up lets just say I held it for 3 minutes and stuck around a little bit longer for a piece of chocolate and a glass of water, might as well get my money's worth.
After that ordeal the rest was really a cakewalk, I had my blood pressure checked in one room, my eyes checked (including a color blind test) in another, an ultrasound of my stomach area in another, EKG in another and chest x-ray in another room. Then it was time to change back into my clothes and check out. All total I was in and out in less than an hour. Quite the assembly line process, I know in the hospitals back home you wait an hour before even seeing someone. All the procedures were done in the same hall, none of this going to different floor levels or going from the radiology department to the EKG unit. Very efficient, and all for less than $90, why can't we do that in our society?
posted by Roxanne Gillett at
8:24 PM
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