I agree that the building is ostentatious, confusing and cold. Nobody seems to like it. Luckily, the actual medical care I get there continues to be excellent. I think I’d much rather get my care from Jefferson than from Penn.
But the reason I’m writing is to correct what appears to be a misconception about how the elevators work. Here’s what I’ve observed: If you select a floor, the next elevator that arrives will go to that floor. If, while you’re waiting, other people select different floors, the same elevator will go to your floor and their floors too. It’s exactly the same as what would happen with a traditional elevator, where everyone waiting would get on the next elevator and select their floors inside the elevator.
Why this is an improvement is beyond me. At least with the old system, if you realized you’d made a mistake you could correct it inside the elevator. In the new system, you’ll have to get off and try again.
Unfortunately, your frustration is so true, and sad. The smaller hospital where I had my major open heart surgery— St. Vincent, in Bridgeport, CT— was absolutely the opposite of what you described. From the moment you walked in, you were met with smiling, helpful faces. I met with their head physician administrator, whose goal is to provide better outcomes through a professional motivated staff, from janitors to surgeons and everyone in between. It was amazing. it can be done.
I was about to write Bravo, however before I could comment I was whisked to an authentication screen, asked for my handle, to subscribe, all of which I skipped and finally got to comment! I love your columns but this experience was a bit of an echo of your column experience ! Your cousin.
Doing trends research to advise companies on strategy, one of the key findings is the need to balance High Tech with High Touch. Your experience sounds as if they did not consider high touch at all. Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC has lovely, friendly volunteers from the community welcoming patients. Hip replacement patients get shorts rather than hospital gowns. They treat you like an injured athlete or ballet dancer rather than a sick, old person. Very uplifting are rooms with river view. I think it helps the healing process.
Robertson Davies wrote many wonderful novels including "The Cunning Man" which was primarily about the life of a diagnostic physician.
In a lecture to Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1984, he wrote a lecture called - “Can a Doctor be a Humanist” He spoke of the cadeuces, that symbol with the two serpents entwined on the staff, one Knowledge and one Wisdom. Davies said Knowledge and Wisdom aren't necessarily opponents, but they are opposites, and they must be reconciled and made supporters of each other.
For the physician, Knowledge comes from education and study, enabling him to help patients. Wisdom, on the other hand, is an introverted element of the doctor's psyche, coming from within... It is wisdom “that makes him look not at the disease, but at the bearer of the disease. It is what creates the link that unites the healer with his patient, and the exercise of which makes him a true physician, a true healer. It is Wisdom that tells the physician how to make the patient a partner in his own cure.
“Instead of calling them Knowledge and Wisdom, let us call them Science and Humanism."
35 years as a hospital administrator ( in Switzerland)—the USA system has been broken for a long time—and this experience unfortunately ( key word) is common.
you are so old school....the idea that communication etc was part of medicine is outdated...data collection and possible evaluation of the data (not the patient) is how the system not (?) works
From reader Dan Coren:
I agree that the building is ostentatious, confusing and cold. Nobody seems to like it. Luckily, the actual medical care I get there continues to be excellent. I think I’d much rather get my care from Jefferson than from Penn.
But the reason I’m writing is to correct what appears to be a misconception about how the elevators work. Here’s what I’ve observed: If you select a floor, the next elevator that arrives will go to that floor. If, while you’re waiting, other people select different floors, the same elevator will go to your floor and their floors too. It’s exactly the same as what would happen with a traditional elevator, where everyone waiting would get on the next elevator and select their floors inside the elevator.
Why this is an improvement is beyond me. At least with the old system, if you realized you’d made a mistake you could correct it inside the elevator. In the new system, you’ll have to get off and try again.
From reader Len Lear:
Maybe they can hire Stephen Starr to teach the hospital personnel how to smile, like his hosts and servers.
Or hire Linda Blair to teach the doctors to spin their heads around, which would teach the patients how to smile.
From reader Cirel Magen:
This is brilliant and witty. But it made me weep in despair. What did we do to deserve the unhealthy state of health care we live with now?
My special madness: Why is a non-tax-paying institution allowed to kill birds and light pollute the sky with all those expensive, blazing signs?
From reader Ronald Gordon:
Unfortunately, your frustration is so true, and sad. The smaller hospital where I had my major open heart surgery— St. Vincent, in Bridgeport, CT— was absolutely the opposite of what you described. From the moment you walked in, you were met with smiling, helpful faces. I met with their head physician administrator, whose goal is to provide better outcomes through a professional motivated staff, from janitors to surgeons and everyone in between. It was amazing. it can be done.
From reader Myra Chanin:
It takes a decent return on $762 million to get the owners to smile.
From reader Michael Zuckerman:
And where will we be when Jefferson goes belly up?
I was about to write Bravo, however before I could comment I was whisked to an authentication screen, asked for my handle, to subscribe, all of which I skipped and finally got to comment! I love your columns but this experience was a bit of an echo of your column experience ! Your cousin.
Hmm. Do you suppose Jefferson has acquired Substack?
Doing trends research to advise companies on strategy, one of the key findings is the need to balance High Tech with High Touch. Your experience sounds as if they did not consider high touch at all. Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC has lovely, friendly volunteers from the community welcoming patients. Hip replacement patients get shorts rather than hospital gowns. They treat you like an injured athlete or ballet dancer rather than a sick, old person. Very uplifting are rooms with river view. I think it helps the healing process.
Robertson Davies wrote many wonderful novels including "The Cunning Man" which was primarily about the life of a diagnostic physician.
In a lecture to Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1984, he wrote a lecture called - “Can a Doctor be a Humanist” He spoke of the cadeuces, that symbol with the two serpents entwined on the staff, one Knowledge and one Wisdom. Davies said Knowledge and Wisdom aren't necessarily opponents, but they are opposites, and they must be reconciled and made supporters of each other.
For the physician, Knowledge comes from education and study, enabling him to help patients. Wisdom, on the other hand, is an introverted element of the doctor's psyche, coming from within... It is wisdom “that makes him look not at the disease, but at the bearer of the disease. It is what creates the link that unites the healer with his patient, and the exercise of which makes him a true physician, a true healer. It is Wisdom that tells the physician how to make the patient a partner in his own cure.
“Instead of calling them Knowledge and Wisdom, let us call them Science and Humanism."
Whoa, a skeptic in paradise! How could you stand in the way of progress, Dan?
35 years as a hospital administrator ( in Switzerland)—the USA system has been broken for a long time—and this experience unfortunately ( key word) is common.
Let’s try putting the care back in healthcare.
you are so old school....the idea that communication etc was part of medicine is outdated...data collection and possible evaluation of the data (not the patient) is how the system not (?) works