A Tale of Two Hospitals

A friend of mine just underwent surgery at one of the two hospitals in her community. She emailed me to say she was okay, and in her email she gave a short review of her experience. I won’t name the hospital, but here is her review:

This is the first time I have ever used this facility -- all other surgeries were at [other hospital] and wow -- the difference (and adding Covid precautions) were shocking.  Check in was not impressive at all -- I don't even think I could describe it -- I actually felt like I was being wheeled in somebody’s old crockety basement and people were everywhere (some covered and some not).  The place was unclean.  When I got to the operating room it was like entering the side door of a garage -- I'm not really good at describing it. Still I held my resolve and wasn't nervous (just aware) ... the place did not give me the feeling it was sterile.

She and I live 180 miles apart, so when I had to go to a hospital, I obviously went to a different hospital—a large hospital that was local to me. It was ten years ago, but I still remember the experience well. The hospital was sparkling clean and the people there bent over backward to help me. They put me into a semi-private room (two beds) with another patient. His family members were visiting him and were talking loudly. I called a nurse and asked her if she could bring me some disposable ear plugs because of the noise. She didn’t; instead, she wheeled me down the hall to another room, a private room (single bed). Later, another nurse came to my room and asked if there was anything I needed. Lying in a hospital bed is boring and I jokingly answered that I’d like to have a computer. She replied that she had a laptop in her car and she offered to go to her car and bring her computer back to me. I told her that wasn’t necessary, but I was plenty impressed. After I was back at home, someone from the hospital phoned me to make sure I was okay and wanted me to comment on my experience at the hospital—what I thought they did well and what I thought they could have done better. I had no complaints at all.

What a difference there was between our two experiences! It comes down to people. Hospitals, like all institutions, develop a culture. The culture can usually be summed up in a few words: “Good enough to get by”, or “Excellence.” Is “Excellence” too expensive for other hospitals to emulate? Or is “good enough” the default position of staff who don’t want to go the extra mile because it’s a bother? And which hospital is more likely to succeed, and which is more likely to fail?

It should go without saying that this dichotomy exists across many institutions in our country. Of course, the managers and directors must strike a balance, but shouldn’t we err on the side of making the customer or patient feel that he or she is in a place run by competent people who care about them?

Shouldn’t we all try to do our best, especially when dealing with people who may be in a new and scary situation? Or is “Excellence” merely an old-fashioned concept that we don’t have time for in these modern days?