The right to Heal

About two years ago, and just before the Pandemic, my friend was rushed to the Emergency one night, suffering from severe renal colic caused by a kidney stone, a pre-existing condition. As usual, the ER was packed; many people showed deep and different symptoms. Suddenly one of the patients, a senior person, loudly expressed his resentment and pain, waiting for a long time to be seen by a doctor.

One of the medical assistants shouted at him, saying, "Why are you complaining! You must be grateful for receiving free healthcare!"

Everyone in the ER waiting area was shocked but confused between their sufferings, responding to this savage comment by the medical assistant, and from the fear of being mistreated if they attempt to step up and confront such a non-human comment.

Four hours later, my friend was seen by the physician on duty that night, who told him without any examining or questioning that he was suffering from a Liver problem. My friend tried to describe the type and location of the pain and the symptoms associated with the kidney stone. Still, the doctor refused to listen and dismissed him with some advice to visit his family doctor in the morning. It was already 4 am.

Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said, "Healing is a matter of time, but sometimes also a matter of opportunity." When he made such a statement, what did he mean by opportunity? Was it to find adequate, well-trained, and informed medical staff and medication, or the opportunity to have access to medical care first!

We live in a country where health care is one of its top priorities. It is claimed to be one of the best systems in the world. Consequently, we never expect to have no opportunity for healing.

But the fact is that our country is in the thirty's position for the number of hospital beds per capita, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Suppose the number of hospital beds per capita is one of the main indicators used to measure the progress, growth, and advancement of nations. In that case, we have a clear and present predicament.

Initially, we must state that the healthcare system is not free since it is financed by our taxes, since we are one of the highest taxpayers in the world. Also, healthcare is getting funded by the Lottery profits, besides other social projects, and we can imagine the value of lottery tickets sold every day.

The current lockdown, the new regulations for quarantine, and the incapability to perform Covid tests anymore have revealed a weakness in the healthcare system, which was observed through everyday healthcare needs even before the Pandemic's emergence.

Nonetheless, is it truly a lack of funding or mismanagement of funds?

As an ordinary non-specialist observer, we may realize that the healthcare availability and "opportunity" is subject to the laws of supply and demand, definitely not by the abundance or scarcity of patients, but that of healthcare workers and mainly physicians and specialists.

The waiting time to see a specialist or find a surgery slot is directly related to the number of doctors available to cover the high demand. Accordingly, the fewer doctors available, the less opportunity to heal people. Most importantly, the more money these doctors get paid.

Imagine that the healthcare system employs more doctors and healthcare workers to meet the high demand for their professions. They all have to get paid by the same amount of funds from previously discussed sources.

Accordingly, the healthcare workers' share from this pie will be less than what they currently receive. Because healthcare providers, particularly specialists and surgeons, have a significant influence on the system, their rules prevail.

Ironically, our country receives thousands of immigrants with medical professions education and expertise every year. Yet, we still have such a substantial shortage of healthcare workers. The lobbyists who influence the availability and distribution of doctors are the same who set the rules for those immigrants to practice medicine in their chosen home country. These rules are primarily hard to realize, thus creating a continuous state of demand that consequently increases their price!

In the meantime, if we need more beds for our patients, then the funds required to build hospitals have to come from the same source that pays the medical professionals; then again, it is another dilemma. Do we build hospitals and pay less to healthcare providers, or pay them the same inflated amounts and let the patients suffer?