No Hospital in West Maui?
| How can this be possible? With the thousands of visitors to Lahaina every day and the residents that live on the West side of Maui, how can we not have some kind of Hospital or emergency care there? It is faster to catch a plane to Oahu if you are having a heart attack or stroke than it is to try to cross the island to Kahalui. Chances are you will die on Rt. 30 somewhere around Launiapoko Park stuck in a traffic jam. I have in fact several time taken a plane to Oahu in an emergency health care situation. One good thing about the way the County works is that it can require developers to provide a Hospital for the additional people that will be filling the West Maui Hillsides. Please notice that I said can. I did not say will. I personally would rather live without the Hospital than have the hillsides developed. How about you? |
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I think most people are aware that Maui is lacking in the Health Care Department! Unless you have experienced first hand what it is like to loose someone because they could not get the medical care they needed without being flown to Oahu, or worse than that needed a specialist for your own injury, there is no way you could possibly understand the severity of the problem. Sometimes it is even a minor injury that can not be treated properly. Most of us have some kind of Health Insurance, but what good does it do us if we cannot be treated? I recently experienced this for myself. I broke my foot in a little accident and went to the Hospital where I thought it would be set and cast and life would go on. I was in for a big surprise. After waiting 3 hours I was given a list of Orthopaedic Doctors to call on the following day. Try to imagine if you can, my thoughts as I was told by every Orthopaedic Doctor on Maui that they could not look at my foot for 2 to 3 weeks! I was not supposed to walk on it and quickly realised the next option was to fly to Oahu. This was not a great option! The expenses and fiscal logistics were not something I was looking forward to. I sat in my bed in total disbelief! What if this were a stroke or a heart attach? Friends said to me that this was the price you pay to live in Paradise. Not good enough! I then called my Insurance Company and asked why I paid for insurance when there was no Doctor to treat me. They simply said that, that is the way it is in Maui. The sad reality is that is the truth! It is really shocking that we can put men on the moon but cannot get a broken foot cast in Maui. If you think I am not telling the truth there are medical records to back this up. After threatening the Insurance Company and telling them that I was going to call an attorney they finally set out to help me. I have to give them a little credit for that. So 2 days later I was at a Podiatrist's office where I was given an Xray for the second time and put in a removable brace. I was sent home and told not to walk on it after having had to drive and walk myself into the Hospital and the Doctor's office. I now sit waiting and hoping that I will heal properly. But as I sit I wonder how it could be possible that this is the way it really is. Why are we short of good medical care here and how can the problem be corrected???? We all know they are charging plenty. My little visit to the emergency room where all I received was an Xray and a list of Physicians to call, was $1,184. This is a little out of proportion if you think about it for awhile. Another example happened recently where I started to have eye trouble. The pain continually got worse for 1 week. I called an Eye Doctor and was told he could see me in 4 days. I suffered greatly for 4 days and then went in. He first kept me waiting for 1 hour and 45 minutes. When he finally looked at my eye he said it was irritated and gave me some eye drops. The whole time I was in the chair he was talking to one of his colleges about another patient. I should have just walked out. Looking back I wish I had. One week later I was in even worse pain and it was obvious that it was not getting any better. I called a different Doctor who said come right in. He saw me within 10 minutes and told me I had an infection. Well, at last I felt that maybe my eye would recover. However, I will not recover from my last two medical experiences here on Maui. Things are truly very bad! The Insurance companies have a pretty good thing going when we pay them so much to be sure we will get the health care we need but then there is nobody to treat us. When I take money to provide a service, I have to provide it. How do the insurance companies get away with this? For an even worse story about Health Care be sure to visit An American Psunami page! |
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