I have never been particularly graceful. Once or twice a year I have a spectacular fall. Not dizzy, not drop in blood pressure, just lose my balance and kerplop. Today I had the best worst fall ever. Right in the parking lot of Dollar General in Boyle, Mississippi, pop. 720. I was dripping blood down my brow so thought it might be a good idea to check in with some medical establishment. Problem is: where?
In rural America, there aren't many choices, and the choices are not always obvious. I could go to the emergency room, the GOP's favorite choice, but it didn't seem a big enough deal for the emergency room.
It was shortly after 1:00 PM, so I could go to the medical clinic where I go for my everyday care, but with an appointment the wait there runs into hours; what would await me for a walk in- even bleeding? I wasn't sure if I needed stitches, and didn't want to wait for hours to find out.
I work at a small state university (less than 4000 students), Boyle is a "suburb" of the town where the university is located (pop. 12,000). I decided to go to the university clinic. There is doctor on call with very limited office hours, but there is a nurse on duty during the day- she could at least tell me if I needed stitches.
I got in to see the nurse right away. She told me I probably didn't need stitches, but definitely needed to have it seen to, if for no other reason to get a tetanus shot. She informed me that my doctor's office, in fact, most local clinics, don't do stitches. I could go to the emergency room or a walk in clinic that I didn't even know existed. She recommended the walk in clinic because the wait would be shorter. She cleaned me up and sent me on.
I sat in the waiting room of the clinic oozing blood for 45 minutes. Finally got in to see the nurse practitioner, who super-glued my brow, then turned me over to the nurse for a shot. Time elapsed from the time I was hurt until the time I was released from the clinic- 4 hours. The clinic was 5 miles from the accident.
My out of pocket cost- $20 co-pay. I have state insurance. Because I have not met my deductible I will end up paying $85. They have a sliding scale- minimum payment $25, maximum $85, based on income. Lab tests extra- but no lab tests in my case.
So you judge. 4 hours lost from work for a glued cut and a shot. I work in a job where this was not an issue. I was probably going to work from home this afternoon anyway. But for people who get paid by the hour, that is half a day lost. The cost of the service, relatively low- emergency room would have been 5 times that. A very small town with limited resources, but I was taken care of. Mixed feelings.