do you think hospitals treat people who are "travelling" the same

[Art101]

Been in several states and in my experience if you dont have insurance or even DSHS they treat you like crap.Like a doc explained to me its like going to McDonalds ordering a Big Mac meal supersized and paying half price for it.The only serious hassle I have over a med bill was for a kidney stone in Boise ID and they drug their feet for 2 hours before doing anything.After 4 yrs I still get harassing phone calls from that.

 

[Renegade]

I have also had mixed results.. they can be fuckheads at times..last time was when i got in a fight and the guy had some type of ring and it slashed my facewide open.. i had to get stitches and they were cool as fuck.. gave me socks ..,a taxi voucher and some painmeds .. i was covered in blood when I arrived tho..hands arms and entire face.. so i think that helped..other times i have been mocked and treated like crap..

 

[John C]

I've had that experience when I was traveling and got sick.. similar to when I had no insurance and a home. It's as if they think they'll lose their job if they help too much.

 

[WieselFlink]

once went to the hospital to get an infected spiderbite treated (it was a painfull handsized black spot on the backside of my knee) and the nurse thought i was a needlejunky because i had a several mosquito bites on my arms haha.

 

[Renegade]

once went to the hospital to get an infected spiderbite treated (it was a painfull handsized black spot on the backside of my knee) and the nurse thought i was a needlejunky because i had a several mosquito bites on my arms haha.

Geez shes an idiot.. who cant tell the difference.. i get a lot of ignorance thrown at me in hospital too cuz im housless i must be a junkie... pfft.. sorry they treated you like that.

 

[WieselFlink]

Geez shes an idiot.. who cant tell the difference.. i get a lot of ignorance thrown at me in hospital too cuz im housless i must be a junkie... pfft.. sorry they treated you like that.

Don't worry. I laughed at her cause she couldn't tell the difffrence. I mean how tha hell do mosquitobites look like needleholes? Ridiculous.
I get the junky thing a lot ^^ maybe because of the mixture of punk, dreads and clothes that are falling apart.

 

[Renegade]

Don't worry. I laughed at her cause she couldn't tell the difffrence. I mean how tha hell do mosquitobites look like needleholes? Ridiculous.
I get the junky thing a lot ^^ maybe because of the mixture of punk, dreads and clothes that are falling apart.

Yeah exactly, the way we dress makes a lot of people assume we are on H.. i have had people make me promise not to use money heroin before they kicked it down to me i am like dude.. i have never done H in my life dispite how i look. Its funny to think so many years ago i was that person in scrubs in ER rooms when i finished highschool i went the medical route.. i never judged people based on stuff like that.. i just gave the best Quality care that I could .

 

[LeeenPocket]

I haven't needed an ER in my travels yet. But once I got to the slabs I got MediCal and tried to go to the clinic in Niland to be referred somewhere for my migraines. The "doctor" was wearing soooo much perfume it actually triggered a migraine. She refused to refer me until she "established a pattern of care". Made me feel like an imbecile for not being on "better" anti-depressants. And she didn't believe that I have a college degree. Like, being homeless somehow makes me a social degenerate incapable of doing anything but begging or seeking drugs. After this, I would have said they were good for nothing but a bandaid, until I spilled boiling water on my hand and went to them for a bandage and burn ointment and they refused and told me to go to the ER. Btw, the ER in Brawley regularly turns slabbers away because we're all apparently homeless drug addicts. At least that's what I've gathered from SEVERAL full time slabbers.

 

[Trvshwvng]

They've always gone above and beyond to help me out. In Plymouth, NH and Tallahassee they were cool af in both instances. One nurse gave me the code for the staff room so I could just get drinks and shit whenever I wanted.

 

[Continental Drifter]

I've recently visited a few ER's, and that only because of an infected finger from a deep cut. The staff and/or hospitals are hit and miss as far as working with folks who "don't have insurance." Leastaways they cleaned, drained, and wrote me the cheapest prescription for antibiotics, which I can't find in the wild this time of year...

 

[drode]

My road dawg got MRSA and they treated him and let him stay until the surgery wound showed it was mending back together, but they were ADAMANT that we get out ASAP.

 

[ev wood]

I've had mixed experiences. People at planned parenthood have always been really nice and helpful.
Tulane hospital in New Orleans treated me like fucking scum, the doctor actually laughed and made fun of me. I get that they probably see a lot of shit but I am by nature polite and well spoken (thanks, ma!). It was 9am, I was stone cold sober, relatively clean and had a staph infection that needed antibiotics, there was no reason to be an ass.
Another hospital for low income folks (Cooper Green) were pretty nice to me, but also dismissive and ended up making my issue worse. Also they didn't let the local antibiotic kick in before they started cutting into a really sensitive abscess, the nurse had to hold me down while I bit my belt.
Once I went to a fancy Catholic hospital's ER for a really bad staph infection (following the Cooper Green incident), they were amazing. I am not a Christian, I was dirty as hell and really freaked out from all the pain I was in. The nurses kept checking on me, the doctors were really kind. I had to be admitted and have emergency surgery, stay there for two weeks on IV antibiotics. The ER nurses would come up and check in on me and all the nurses / doctors on the floor were really sweet and genuinely interested in the fact that I traveled without money. They never proselytized (try to convert) to me, and even sent someone from billing up to my room to let me know about the different hospital charities I could go through to help get my bills reduced and / or paid.
Maybe the key is to go to a hospital that doesn't get a lot of homeless / traveling folks because they aren't burnt out yet by the folks that make us all look bad.

 

[Art101]

I had some great "service" at Catholic hospitals.They seem to be warmer and more caring.The hospital in Pasco WA always treated me excellently even though I was missioned up.Harborzoo in Seattle wasnt bad,but its can get crazy.