The St. Joseph's Hospital is a Roman Catholic "faith oriented" hospital located in the south west area of Toorotten, Rottentario. Mixing medical science with religion that Albert Einstein called "primitive childish superstitions" is a major flaw with this hospital, which is basically a destructive shit hole. For miles around the hospital, residents are constantly disturbed by the ambulance sirens that cause severe noise pollution every day and every night of the year. Half the time fire engine sirens accompany the ambulances, and the noise pollution is unbearable – especially for high rise residents who hear the deafening sirens for up to 5 minutes each time they pass by. Often the ambulances are empty and not needed, but the drivers use the sirens for kicks and to speed through traffic.
This hospital is a very disorganized complex of unrelated buildings apparently designed by the Marquis de Sade when he was drunk. If you make the mistake of visiting the hospital, you will become hopelessly lost. Staff may or may not help you find your way. Some are just as confused as you are, because everything is in a state of flux and constant change. Others will give you the wrong directions, just for kicks or because of the changes. Virtually nobody on staff will give you a coherent and comprehensible explanation of the various services, departments, and clinics. Your best bet is to find somebody who will honestly tell you, "I don't know." Then you can spend an hour trying to find what you are looking for on your own. Any maps or literature about the hospital will probably be hopelessly out of date. If you complain about this madness, you will be punished. And if you are extremely sick and tell the staff you may die if you don't receive attention quickly, they will punish you for "threatening" them.
About 5 years ago I was an out patient at the St. Joseph's Hospital Family Medicine Centre. I had a female almost-a-doctor supervised by a female genuine doctor. They were OK, but didn't always give me the medicine I asked for. I stopped going to the St. Joseph's Hospital because in a hallway a woman coughed right in my face, and I was given a cold and the flu simultaneously.
Quite recently I went to St. Joseph's Hospital Emergency for a benzoiazepine Rx. I was given a referral form and told to go to the Family Medicine Centre as a walk-in patient, because they are not taking new out patients. I phoned the Family Medicine Centre and a bossy and ignorant woman told me that benzodiazepines are a narcotic and I must go to the hospital's addiction centre! I explained to her that benzodiazepines are classified as a minor tranquilizer, and they are the # 1 tranquilizers in Canada and the # 1 hypnotic (sleeping pill) in Canada. She insisted that benzodiazepines are a narcotic and hung up on me.
Later I phoned back to get information about the Family Medicine Centre. The same idiot told me I had the wrong number, that I belong in the hospital's addiction centre. I told her she was wrong, but she just transferred me to the addiction centre. A more sensible woman answered and agreed with me that benzodiazepines are NOT narcotic and I should go to the Family Medicine Centre as the Emergency doctor had written on the referral form. She told me the new hours of the Centre and the routine, but I decided to avoid the hospital completely because I don't want to deal with crazy staff or contagious diseases.
Recently I went to the so-called "Rapid access walk-in-clinic" at the St. Joseph Hospital. I was referred to the clinic in writing by two doctors in Emergency. To be the first "patient" I arrived at 9:30 a.m., half an hour early. But I had to wait until after 10:30 a.m. I was supposed to see a nurse who would bore me with questions to determine if I could see a doctor! It is not "rapid access" to place a nurse between the doctor and patient. That is a roadblock. The nurse did not show up. And the receptionist at the "Family Clinic" was unhelpful and rude to me generally, and she lied about the nurse's whereabouts. She told me the nurse was in the hospital, when in fact she was not.
A doctoress finally came for me. She never looked at me. Never once. The doctoress instantly made it clear that she would not prescribe any prescriptions for me. I should have left right then, but I did not. She informed me that the so-called "Rapid access walk-in-clinic" was not a walk-in clinic. It was for drug addicts. When did "Rapid access" become a synonym for "drug addiction"?
Anyway, this incompetent doctoress asked me some stupid and invasive questions, which I answered in a brief and vague way, because questions at this point were inappropriate since I didn't care about anything but a prescription, which she made clear she would not give me.
The doctoress didn't care about my very poor and declining health, which makes finding a doctor impossible. I have informed the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, the Canadian Medical Association, the Ontario Medical Association, the Minister of Health of Ontario, and the Minister of Health of Canada that it is impossible for me to look for a doctor. I am too tired and sick to track down non-existent doctors I don't really want. All I want is the medication that doctors addicted me to.
My appraisal of the anonymous doctoress who wasted my time and energy and made me very angry, upset, and depressed, is that she is an evil, corrupt, criminally incompetent sadistic asshole. She has less humanity than a microsoft computer operating system. I truly wish death for this sadistic and destructive asshole. She would be better off dead, and so would the public. I will celebrate her death. I was never given her name, she did not tell me her name, and the hospital administration refused to give me her name. Instead, they supported her gross incompetence and threatened me.
There is a public relations person with the job title "Manager of Patient Relations" named Sally-Ann Johnson. The moment you meet her you can tell she is a complete phoney. She has a perpetual smile and overly-pleasant Pollyanna public personality. But beneath the bullshit is just another corrupt asshole who completely supports everything the hospital staff does or will not do. And if you are perceived as not supporting the hospital, Sally-Ann will attack and threaten you. That's what she did to me: she completely supported the scumbag doctoress and threatened me for complaining about her sadism and incompetence. In fact, she considered my complaint a "threat".
Basically my attitude toward the St. Joseph's hospital is spelled out in the Rev. Gary Davis' song "If I Had My Way". It goes: "If I had my way in this wicked world, If I had my way I would tear this building down." The hospital is a destructive disaster and an enormous waste of taxpayer money.
What does the St. Joseph's Hospital mean to me? Mostly the ambulances – their siren noise and the deaths they are associated with. In my high rise building I am plagued by their siren noise day and night. It is something I never get used to. Many people, including 7 of my neighbours, left my building with ambulance attendants and never returned. They died. My friend and neighbour John Little was killed by ambulance attendants. He had a glandular problem that caused his legs to be enormous in size. Attendants lifted him from his bed with a mechanical contraption that dropped him on the floor. They tried a second time, and it tore off all the skin from his backside. John was in excruciating pain and died the next day.
Deaths caused by incompetent ambulance attendants are surprisingly common. Jimi Hendrix, the famous Rock star, did not die from a drug overdose – he was murdered by ambulance attendants. In London, England in 1970, Jimi Hendrix took one sleeping pill that was prescribed for him. But he was not familiar with the Italian pill. The pill was actually scored to be broken into four doses. Therefore, his friends found him asleep in bed with vomit coming from his mouth. They phoned for an ambulance. It arrived and the attendants placed Jimi Hendrix in a chair in the ambulance, with his head tilted back. This suffocated him, and he was dead by the time they reached the hospital. Why do doctors not accompany ambulances? It is insane to merely transport patients to hospitals with no doctor in the ambulances. Probably the reason is doctors do not make house calls. We must go to them, even if we are dying.
Avoid the St. Josesph's Hospital completely. However, if an emergency forces you to go there for medical treatment, here are some suggestions to help you survive the nightmare:
1) Avoid nurses, clerks, administrators, volunteers and other useless people who just get in the way.
2) Probably you will be seen by an inexperienced almost-a-doctor. Ask to see a specialist.
3) Only give relevant information about yourself.
4) Never tell them about your pharmacy. They can and will "investigate" you and destroy the good relationship with your pharmacist.
5) If you think you are in the wrong department, you probably are. Complain to the staff.
6) Never hesitate to ask to see the supervisor or person in charge.
7) If the staff or almost-a-doctor are incompetent, demand a replacement.
8) If you are criticized or punished, demand a replacement and complaint form.
9) Get out of the hospital as quickly as possible.
10) Avoid staying for days in the hospital completely.
11) Never forget that a hospital is a place where doctors can and do get away with murder.
12) Be polite as possible, but don't be intimidated by fascist bullshit. Reject it firmly.
13) Bring your health card and any documents that may be required.
14) Bring a friend to comfort and help you, and to be a witness.
(much more to come)
