Visit to Selayang Hospital

Ripples @ work

When you're sick do you go to a....
a) private hospital e.g. SJMC, Sunway Medical, Pantai... or
b) general hospital e.g. selayang hospital, Univeristi Hospital

If your answer is "a", you should know that you are probably more well off than a whole lot of people, and you probably fall within a higher rank in the social strata. With a few exceptions, the general public who can afford private heath care would typically NOT go to a general hospital when in need of medical attention..

why? most people think its because of the quality of medical practitioners at these places, but thats not entirely true, because of the variety and number of patients doctors in general hospitals see each day, they probably are more experienced..rather its the hassle and inefficiency of visiting general hospitals.

Growing up, because my dad was a government servant, as well as the fact that we couldn't afford to go to private hospitals, the entire family, only sought medical consultation from the general hospital, even if it was the common cough or flu...its economical because..the medication and consultation is absolutely free. The downside is this..you go before 8am and sometimes you don't get to see the doctor till like 1pm...or sometimes even later...then after you see the doctor...you actually still have to queue for medication, so i guess if you believe that time=money, then perhaps its costing you something still..then again, for some people, its not a choice, and since this is the only option for the less fortunate...wait you must...

Things have improved over the years, slowly but surely, but i can say i was quite upset to find out that..it hasn't change that much..speaking to some of the patients during our visit...a kid with appendicitis has been waiting for an operating theatre to be empty for 2 days...because of the operation she has to fast from food, and when i asked her mum, she said, they weren't even inform when she would be operated on...sigh!

There were also parts of the visit that warmth my heart...there was a family that were all cuddled up in 2 beds (parents and 3 kids) and they were singing together with the curtains drawn, we popped in to give the children stuff toys, colour pencils and colouring books...what really touched my heart is the closeness of the family...and perhaps this might be a rarer scene in private hospitals...i am guessing. So money isn't everything, if you don't know this already. Thats the family...in the picture..(the dad and mum were lying down...can't really see them)

Final thoughts...you can see it in the childrens' eyes how our small gifts touch each of them..and the many thanks parents uttered their appreciation of our visit...truly, at times, actions speak louder than words...a particular mum i spoke to had to house all her 4 children in the ward (although only 1 was sick), cause there were no one to take care of them at home, and you can tell by their outfit, they are probably not really well off, she was just happy that someone was there to talk to her, and to be concern over her well-being of the children, and was really interested to know where we came from. So although the gospel wasn't preach explicitly that day, i'm sure God's love was shared.

I'm not sure..but i think those well off children, at private hospitals, wouldn't really have the same jumping with joy response...if presented colour pencils or stuff toys..they probably would expect nothing less than a PSP or the likes of it...

This visit truly is a reminder to count your blessings..and name them one by one.

Us all...leaving the hospital....i think the smile each of the teens wore on their face on their faces back home..was a reflection of joy springin from within, being able to be a blessing to another that saturday morning ;) Lets go again some time, shall we?