It
scares me to think that Kaiser could be the template for national
health care! My husband and I will work ourselves silly to afford
better! All physicians who are from other countries, and are working
with the American public, need to understand, have respect for, and be
able to communicate very well with Americans and in very good English.
I was bombarded several times with physicians who patronized, looked
down on, and who had little regard for Americans or for learning proper
English. In addition, there were a total of three situations we
experienced with Kaiser which resulted in our resolve never to return
to their plan.
My husband and I were members of Kaiser for three years back in the
late 1970’s when I worked with Sacramento County. We joined again
briefly about fifteen years later, but we quickly dropped out and
pursued private insurance.
I have a story that I have told many times for its amusing qualities.
As a community college instructor in California for a number of years,
diversity and our ability as a state to integrate so many immigrants
from all over the world has always been a source of pride as a
Californian. We are glad that our sons grew up knowing and
understanding many cultures and having friends from many countries. For
this reason, I have never had a problem with going to physicians from
other countries. One time in the late 1970’s, my toenails started to
give me problems after I did a lot of hiking in Yosemite National Park.
I also noticed my toenails were not growing correctly.
I saw a physician from India and explained to him my story about
hiking, the pain I was having in my toes, and about how they were not
growing correctly. He looked at me for a long time, not at my toes, but
at me in general. He then said in halting English, “You look good on
outside, so you are good on inside.”
That is all he said. I looked at him in disbelief, and asked him again
what he recommended. Again he looked at me and said, “You look good on
outside; you do look good on inside I think. You have no problem. You
look good.”
I excused myself and left his office, marching right down to the
patient relations department. I may not remember exactly the name of
the department, but I was told that if I had a complaint that is where
I should go to explain my issue regarding the doctor. I was assigned
another physician, but after seeing the next doctor, the nurse at his
office quickly walked up to me and said, “You’ll never get the proper
treatment here; go see this doctor, an Internist. He will take you
seriously and get you help." I had to make excuses as to why I should
go to yet a different doctor, but I did eventually get proper
medication.
On another occasion after the birth of my first child, I had some
strange cramping and was sent to a general practitioner for an exam. An
older doctor and Caucasian, he was pleasant but began to talk about
surgery to resolve post-birth problems. I had not even been examined
yet. I sensed a strange logic in his explanation on why I should be
operated on, and decided not to return to Kaiser again. I found a
gynecologist who examined me and offered exercises and a diet plan
which resulted in all ending of my symptoms and increased health.
In 1975, when I was working with Sacramento, CA. County, my husband was
having a lot of pain in his left heel, an area which he had had surgery
on as a child. Because my husband’s family had been with Kaiser for a
long time, and because we were newly married, I didn’t have any history
at that time to cause me to second-guess their treatment. My husband
agreed to surgery, which the doctor said would “update” the skin graft
done in his childhood. After the surgery, my husband’s nerves in his
left heel and foot were damaged and resulted in the loss of feeling. A
year later my husband went to a private surgeon in Fresno specializing
in the feet and leg areas. My husband was told that the surgeon was a
“butcher” and ruined the graft that had been “state-of-the-art” in 1958
when he had had it done. Unfortunately, the damage was done, and my
husband never obtained any compensation or feedback from Kaiser. In
addition, the surgeon that had done the surgery was “no longer with
Kaiser” as said by Kaiser’s administration office.
Those are our stories, and I hope that others can learn from ours and
others’ stories that it is important to accept only physicians who are
culturally respectful of Americans, who have a very good command of
English—our language, who have proven success in the area of specialty
that is needed, and who do not push for unnecessary surgeries.
“JTF”
In
Copyright
Since
September 11, 2000
This
ribbon is intended as a remembrance of
those that have been harmed by the health care system. 
if
you would like to donate to the Kaiser Papers. 
