Hospital Visit (2006-10-09)
There's a small setback in my health which required me to have some tests done at a hospital. The local doctor who's been treating my problem referred me to the hospital closest to my residence. I posed no objection to his recommendation since I know nothing about any other hospitals in other suburbs, I might as well go to one that requires little travel time.
This particular hospital is fairly small
and quite old. The entire building is (as of today) covered with
a gray tarp
thing which indicates some kind of renovation being carried out.
The interior shows signs of wear and tear, the walls are old which need
a dire paint job, the doors to most rooms have chipped paint and the
floor covering isn't faring any better either.
I spotted a total of three English words (Information, Calculate,
Revisit) in the hospital, all other signage and paperwork I got are in
Japanese and
nobody spoke English. So I gather it is a facility aimed at
serving the local
people
and not the international clientele. The service is
efficient and fast and the
hospital runs on a very smooth and organized fashion. You are
told to go to one room, get the test you need, then get directed to the
next station, drop your file in the designated slot from which
somebody will immediately snap up the content. This room hopping
procedure continues until you are done for the day, and the last
station you
are directed to is the cashier desk, at which you pay your bill and go
home.
While the workers in the service industry are almost always
courteous
and amicable, quite a few of the staff at this hospital is not.
They are curt
but not rude, unsmiling but not unprofessional. They are
efficient to the point of being stiff and robotic. The technician
who gave me an Echogram was like a schoolmarm. Her authoritative
tone put me right back to the time when I was a timid 4th grade
student. When she said she was going to put some gel on my body
where I was to receive the Echogram, I hadn't expected it to be hot. The squirt of hot gel
nearly startled me out of the bed! A little forewarning from her
would've been nice.
I can't quite use the term "caring" or "friendly" on the few workers I encountered, but they were not hostile either. Fortunately my doctor is pretty nice. But hey, I just wanted to have my tests and treatment and get the heck out, I don't care if they treated me like another number.
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