When we first founded Chasing4Life we decided to fight complacency, ignorance and apathy. We rarely jump on a bandwagon and fight for a cause or a campaign and we certainly never involve ourselves in political fights. It has been a pretty good decision so far and I have no intention of making Chasing4Life an organization that marches around buildings holding picket signs or rushing courthouse lawns to scream an opinion.
With that said, I am going to step out of a comfort zone a little and voice a concern that I believe is directly connected to Chasing4Life’s mission statement and purpose as a disaster preparedness education organization.
I believe we could be facing a very real disaster with consequences that go far beyond anything being considered right now here in our own backyard. If you are reading this blog from outsoide our Central, Nebraska area, bear with me; I don’t do this often.
One thing you learn living in a small town or rural area is who your friends are. Recently, a good friend ended up in the hospital due to a heart problem, so of course, concerned, I called to see how he was doing. I had waited two days, not wanting to interupt the time spent with family, and by the time I called, he shared how all of his neighbors had already made arrangements to get his corn in from the field while he was hospitalized.
That’s rural life. It is how we get things done, it is how we treat people.
I remember the first time I saw Kearney’s Good Samaritan Hospital. The walls of glass, the large buildings, the sprawiling campus... I was not only intimidated, but concerned. See, I grew up on the outskirts of Chicago and I knew how big hospitals treated you. I was pretty sure Good Samaritan was going to be the same way, for here was this progressive medical facility sitting in the middle of Nebraska, out of place.
Here is what I found out.
I found out that Good Samaritan is staffed by people that live, eat and play around it. They’re rural people, small town people, good people. My original fears quickly fled when I was treated as if I was family; as if I was a neighbor.
My family laughs and pokes fun at me, calling me the “Tim Taylor” of the family. I tend to utilize the hospital quite a bit. It is said that I could fall down in a room made of marshmellows and still break my leg. I guess it is true; I have come to know Good Samaritan pretty well.
It has been my experience that no matter where you are in the hospital, what floor you are on or who is on duty, you are going to be treated as if you are their only patient. you can walk into the ER and never wait to be seen. you can sit in the waiting room by radiology and watch the fish and chat with the intake nurses. You can be in the cardiac unit surrounded by family and feel as if you are at home, safe and secure.
I know...I’ve been there.
There is a difference between doing your job and being your job. With my track record for health and injury complications, I have been in and out of alot of hospitals, some of them ranking in the Nation’s top 5, but I have NEVER had the treatment I received at Good Samaritan right in Kearney, Nebraska. The folks at this hospital don’t just DO their job, they ARE their job. They BELIEVE in what they are doing, and as a patient, you feel that.
Good Samaritan Hospital has one of the highest level trauma centers and neonatal intensive care units in Nebraska. Their facilities and physicians treat bones and joints, cancer and heart disease, and are equal to any in hospital in a larger metropolitan area.
Almost two years ago, I was forced to begin talking about plans. You know what I mean; the ones nobody wants to talk about. You see, I was beginning to have heart problems and circulation problems. After several visits to the doctor, there seemed to be no solution nor a diagnosis. The last straw was to go to Good Samaritan.
I’ll admit, despite my high opinion for the facility, I was pretty sure I would get a brief exam and be sent home after more tests. I was wrong. The staff literally “assembled”. They acted as if I was their main priority, in fact, I felt like I was their only patient.
I am alive today because of the men and women that are Good Samaritan.
So why am I writing all of this in my blog?
Pretty much because I can. Also, because I think I need to.
See, talk of a second Kearney hospital has begun to gain momentum.
It seems that there is a group of Doctors and investors looking to build a second hospital in Kearney.
If Good Samaritan was in a state of disrepair and overcrowded to the point of providing poor service, I would set bricks myself for a new facility, but in this case, what is about to happen is going to divide the medical community, separate fantastic teams and threaten the continuity of trauma services! This isn’t about competition in a market, but to me, seems almost like having two U.S. Armies. Pay scales would steal better snipers to one, atmosphere would draw qualified infantry o the other, one would have the Jeeps, one would have the tanks...God help us when war breaks out and we count how many Generals there are!
Now I specialize in a few fields, and NONE of them are in Healthcare at this level, but I know what I know. This new hospital will be Doctor-owned, which seems to open the door for all kinds of manipulation and charges to the patients as Doctors determine their own financial destiny under the guise of “care”. Trust me, in many ways, a hospital is very much like a service garage.
What’s in a name? “Good Samaritan” might say it all. A non-profit entity serving its community with all its might and not only meeting requirements but exceeding all expectations is a rare thing. It is about neighbors. It is about family.
With new reports of low scores regarding health disasters being given to the State of Nebraska right now, (
See This Story By Clicking Here), should we REALLY be dividing health care and trauma response right now?
We’ll continue to update you on the developments, and you can be sure we’ll journal the outcomes and effects.
