Reply #8: Not just Indianapolis [View All]

[LibertyLover]

When I moved to Annapolis, the local hospital, Anne Arundel Community Hospital was right downtown, two blocks away from Church Circle and right across the street from the county court and office building. It could be interesting getting to, as the street the emergency room was on was narrow. But it was convenient for many of the poorer residents and easy to get to for them without a great deal of expense or hassle. But a few years back AACH decided to relocate to the suburbs and built a brand new hospital out by the Annapolis Mall. While I have never had to go there for treatment, the same cannot be said of my husband, who has been in the ER for a dog bite (lesson learned - don't put your hand in the mouth of a Siberian Husky who is pissed off with you because you wouldn't let him eat the whippet); chest pains (lesson learned - you don't handle stress very well at all and adopting a kid is stressful); and stomach pain (lesson learned - when you feel something bulging out of the belly button is probably needs to be checked out pronto). He has also been hospitalized there for cardiac monitoring and the room was not bad at all. It was a single (I understand that all patient rooms are singles there now) and nicely decorated with a comfortable chair and love seat for visitors and all medical stuff hidden away or at least as unobtrusive as possible. Luckily we have decent health insurance and AACH still takes it. But with the relocation, the hospital and the ER are a much longer commute for the poorer citizens of Annapolis and it is a difficult place for them to get to. AACH was asked to leave at least a functioning triage center at the old location to serve the community, but I believe it has closed now. If AACH were to get more upscale than it is now, I don't think I would be able to go there as my insurance probably wouldn't let me.