Why don't y'all see?

plain · November 25, 2008

Correct me if I am wrong but I am under the impression that Mexico does not have universal health care.

Actually they do. It's affiliated with "cross the northern border" plan.

BethFromVA · November 25, 2008

Actually they do. It's affiliated with "cross the northern border" plan.

OMG!!! I just sprayed grape juice all over my computer!!! ROTFLMAO!!!

WASaBubbleButt · November 25, 2008

Actually they do. It's affiliated with "cross the northern border" plan.

Oh stop exaggerating.

It's cross the northern AZ border plan. ;o)

BethFromVA · November 25, 2008

And Texas. Don't forget Texas. Well, and California. I think California is like 75% illegals and legal Mexicans now. :blush:

It's the Cross the Calitexizona Plan.

WASaBubbleButt · November 25, 2008

Thanks, Wasa, for answering my question.

Once a Mexican citizen starts their employment it takes about 8 months to complete the paperwork and obtain formal insurance. Then they have to go to county/state (I forget which) hospitals for medical care. The care is not great in those institutions.

Americans and those with money go to the private hospitals where the care is beyond fantastic.

It's not that the doctors are not good, they are quite good. It's the lack of money and supplies. It's like a really poor version of our county hospitals in the US.

There is a doc I do volunteer work for, he is a trauma surgeon. In MX if there is a horrible accident such as a bus driving over a cliff you don't dial 911 and have paramedics in a flash, the doctors and nurses go to the scene and get the people, put them in an ambulance, and then they go to the hospital. Last time that scenario actually happened the guy I volunteer for was called. He had enough expired drugs for six of the people injured. My focus in my own volunteer work is to get the hospitals in the US that throw away drugs (if their color coding changes they throw away ALL drugs and go with the new color codiing system, the drugs are fine and in date, but tossed anyway) and they donate them to Carlos. I go to Nogales every now and again and bring the drugs, set up e-kits and red boxes so that when there is a huge trauma situation they at least have drugs to work with.

The medical staff is trained to climb down mountains and do all the things our own rescue folks would do to get to injured patients. Kind of a waste of resources but it's all they have.

Since my field of expertise is trauma if they get a huge number of trauma cases in I am called and I go to Nogales and help out in OR and recovery as they do not have enough staff to care for more than a couple of traumas at any given time.

It's a weird feeling, the other nurses do not like me in the least. Nursing is a lot different in MX vs. the US. Although we have the same level of training they are not really permitted to use their training. They are there to get the doctor if the patient needs something. When I go there I do things the way I am trained, during a trauma I do what needs to be done, I don't wait for a doctor to do it. Obviously, in the US or MX the doctors are still overseeing everything but I still do my thing. The MX nurses have to ask to do the obvious.

It's an uncomfortable situation but the patients have to come first. It's strange to see the reactions of the MX RNs, they can't believe what nurses in the US do.

Nurses are really wasted in MX, they could be doing sooo much more, they are trained just as US nurses. The RNs in MX are often times merely doing what our nursing assts. do.

Another point of interest, in MX once a nurse graduates from college before they can have their perm. license they have to work for a hospital for one year, 40 hours a week, for free. Completely and totally free labor for MX. After they complete their year of free service then they can get a job where they are paid a lousy wage. The average RN in MX makes $500/mo, the average MD makes $1K/mo. Of course, along the border those docs make much more money but on average, wages are quite low.

The people in MX do not go into medicine for $$, they are in medicine because that is their true love and what they really want to do. I think that's one of the reasons their medical culture is so much different and in many ways... better than the US.

I have a GP I go to in Nogales. Usually I can fix whatever is wrong myself. ;o) But if I need to go to a doc and it's not an emergency I have a Nogales doc that I adore. If you go to an MD in MX for a sore throat it is an absolute minimum of a 30 minute appt, one on one with the doc. Usually it's an hour. If you have to have labs drawn the doctor walks you over to the lab (in the case of my Nogales doc the lab is right across the street) and stays with you while your blood is being drawn. If you need a diagnostic such as an xray, ultrasound, EKG, whatever... if the doc doesn't have his own xray equipment then he puts you in his car and drives you to the person that does have the equipment and he stays with you while you have the diagnostics done.

I had to have some pre ops done when I was going to have some plastics work a few months ago. I had to have labs and an EKG. Dr. D took me to the cardiologists office using his own car and stayed with me during the EKG. Then we went to the lab and for whatever reason he thought I was afraid of needles (I'm not) so he kept his hand on my shoulder the whole time the guy was digging for a vein. Their whole entire focus during any type of exam is dignity for the patient and making sure they are not afraid or nervous.

It's a completely different world there, the US could learn a lot from the medical staff in MX regarding how patients are treated.

BTW... for my pre op physical, taking me to the cardiologist for the EKG and the labs for a blood draw, the costs were:

EKG by a cardiologist and not a tech: $35.00

A TON of lab work (CBM, SMAC40, and some hormone tests: $48.00

Office call for the GP: $30.00.

It's cheaper for me to go to Nogales for pre op stuff and general issues than it is to use my insurance in the US.

The doctors have preprinted Rx pads for prescriptions just like in the US. The doctor's home phone, work phone, and cell phone numbers are all printed on the Rx pads. They WANT to be called at home if a patient has questions after hours, they do not want you waiting until the next business day to contact them.

When it comes to daily routines MX beats the US hands down. Patients are treated verrrry well.

WASaBubbleButt · November 25, 2008

And Texas. Don't forget Texas. Well, and California. I think California is like 75% illegals and legal Mexicans now.
It's the Cross the Calitexizona Plan.

It's a horrible problem that isn't getting better. There are people in MX that have US PO Boxes. They live in MX and once a month they cross the border to get their welfare checks then they go home and live quite well. If they need medical care they come back, get the care, and go home to MX.

The system is seriously abused in every possible way. Clearly, I don't hate the people but I damn sure hate the problems this causes.

I have stories and examples that would even make the do-gooders angry.