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Our hospital system here in our area is fantastic. Has won all kinds of awards.
The hospital system, owns the huge hospital complex in Billings, and keeps expanding with more buildings.
They also own hospitals/medical centers in smaller towns. Ours was replaced 2 years ago, and has hospital and the doctors services in the same building. Specialists are in the big hospital in the city, but some travel on a regular basis to the smaller medical clinics to service patients. The hospital has a special room with large screen telecommunication to connect to the large hospital specialists with test equipment and nurses trained to do the tests, which are read as conducted at Billings. This system is one of only 7 in the nation, that are affiliates with the Mayo Clinic, and they can hook up with the Mayo Clinic as needed.
This system covers Montana, Western half of the Dakotas, and northern half of Wyoming, Plus a section of southern Canada.
The system owns two medical helicopters, and 3 twin engine turbo prop medical aircraft, to bring in patients from all over the area they cover. My daughter had to be airlifted to Billings 3 years ago. They sent in a helicopter. The flight nurse was one of the best nurses I have ever seen. Former Military flight nurse. When she comes in the other nurses get out of her way. She fully evaluates her patient, and prepares they to fly. Her reputation is, she has never lost a patient getting them to the hospital. Her pilot and the copilot move the patient to the copter. The hospital nurses here, told me that is the best nurse in their whole system, and love to assist her in anyway they can as they learn by watching her. I have taken a couple of people to the emergency room one time each, and one in the daytime had a doctor within 5 minutes, and one in middle of the night, had one within 15 minutes.
Our system keeps building new hospitals, and clinics. They hire top quality doctors, and the doctors stay with them year after year. The two main doctors at our local clinic, started work after their internships, and have been here close to 30 years. Both have specialties. In addition my personal doctor has the reputation as the best diagnostician in the whole system. He is often called to Billings to look at a case needing his expertise.
We want small town life in our mid 80s, and this is one of the rare places in the country with the quality of medical service we can get.
That sounds fantastic. In organization it sounds a lot like the way its set up in OK, except with fewer resources. For the aveage doctor, they pay less. The research based hospitals are world renounded, but there is a gap after that.
What really made it bad here was not expanding medicade, which if something does not replace that with which is affordable will continue to be a problem.
In a state with a smaller population you don't need a major hospital in every town, but access to the them when needed and something available to feed the lifeline.
The demise of Haywood Park Community Hospital three years ago this summer added Brownsville, Tenn., to an epidemic of dying hospitals across rural America. Nearly 80 have closed since 2010, including nine in Tennessee.
Point being, even if I decide to trade off access to medical services for the essence of Thoreau, and that decision has a given impact on my own situation which I accept, unless I can make my situation one that does not require any assistance from relatives, friends, etc, my decision will impact others.
If those others don't live in my neck of the woods, or even if they do, the multi hour trips to services, camping in hospital parking lots, arranging choppers to cart me off to the real hospital, etc, etc ... those poor saps will be hating life.
It's not about me ...
I understand that city people aren't known as heavy recreational readers, but your singular ignorance about Thoreau's time at Walden is bizarre. I haven't heard of anyone who makes long and frequent trips to hospitals or camps in a hospital parking lot.
I'm surprised that you didn't bring up our frequent incestuous relationships. That always seems to be a popular topic among the urban hordes, something always good for a chuckle among sophisticates. You must really love your life. Otherwise, why would you mount venomous attacks on ours?
There's a life beyond hypochondria and thanatophobia. For example, I believe that it's a positive benefit to live where teenage girls can safely walk through parks at midnight. They can't where you live. I believe as well that it's a positive good to see a starry sky, untroubled by the light pollution of exciting urban lifestyles.
It is a fact that the states with the highest recreational readership rates are in the Great Plains and Intermountain West.
[quote=Happy in Wyoming;47829736]I understand that city people aren't known as heavy recreational readers, but your singular ignorance about Thoreau's time at Walden is bizarre.
Ha.I drive past Walden Pond every morning on my way home from work. It is widely considered that Thoreau spent a great deal of his time at Emerson's mother's house, a vast quarter mile away from the famous cabin (now a very short drive to Emerson Hospital!)
I agree with Happy in WY that there are pluses and minuses of different types in living in these different areas. And for those who choose to live so close to top medical care- do you never take a trip anywhere where less is accessible?
I did use this thread to look up the care near where I'm moving next year. The community hospital 25 miles from my new town is a Level 3 trauma center and there is a Level 2 80 miles away. If I needed to drive (not Med Flighted) to SLC or Denver, I'd have to hire someone and be ready to stay in those towns for whatever the care was. Maybe I'd have to move to the city for that. The Level 2 has a good little cancer center.
I've lived most of my life on the East Coast in medical Mecca (near Boston) and I do take aging into account, but without any indications to the contrary, have decided to take whatever chance it is to move to a lively rural town. I do think the starry skies and enormous mountains and great beauty are worth the chance, otherwise I'd just stay here near Boston.
I understand that city people aren't known as heavy recreational readers, but your singular ignorance about Thoreau's time at Walden is bizarre. I haven't heard of anyone who makes long and frequent trips to hospitals or camps in a hospital parking lot.
I'm surprised that you didn't bring up our frequent incestuous relationships. That always seems to be a popular topic among the urban hordes, something always good for a chuckle among sophisticates. You must really love your life. Otherwise, why would you mount venomous attacks on ours?
There's a life beyond hypochondria and thanatophobia. For example, I believe that it's a positive benefit to live where teenage girls can safely walk through parks at midnight. They can't where you live. I believe as well that it's a positive good to see a starry sky, untroubled by the light pollution of exciting urban lifestyles.
It is a fact that the states with the highest recreational readership rates are in the Great Plains and Intermountain West.
Either A, you are not the situation I alluded to (e.g. some poor relative of yours will eventually have to manage horrible logistics for you at the worst possible time) and therefore missing my point completely, or B, you are THAT guy or gal ...
As someone upthread said - if you need specialty care - you're going to need to live nearer to the urban centers and their hospitals.
It's primary care that's needed most in rural areas. I was the program coordinator for a distance ed nursing graduate program. Nurses getting their masters degrees in the comfort of their rural areas so they would not have to upend their lives and move their families to the BIG CITY to get degrees.
Nurse Practitioners and PAs do fine in rural settings. They don't need full fledged hospitals.
Biggest roadblock to this happening nationwide? Legislator-physicians who think their turf is being stolen.
I can rattle off a number of states where this has been blocked....
I prefer a physician. They are obviously better educated and we may safely assume that they're smarter. I use an internist who is a year younger than I. He has a private practice. When I visit, he is the one who takes my blood pressure. Most of his practice is Dermatology. I learned that he's considered an extraordinary diagnostician in this area. He often sends patients to Mayo in Rochester as he considers it to be the best. He apparently has a nose for melanomas.
This is a very pleasant place to live for physicians as well as laymen. I know of only two who left town, both of whom went to Alaska. I'm not sure what that says.
Does your physician take your blood pressure himself?
All over the Retirement forum too. Top notch medical care, a hour or less to a major airport, no more than 5 miles to supermarkets or big box stores, walkability to nearby cafes and bookstores, lots of public transportation, extra high speed internet, world class cultural events, a major university, etc. are commonly listed as very important to retirement. Even those retirees in their late 50's and early 60's don't want to drive any distance and are concerned about developing a life threatening health condition.
Considering the depraved state of modern American society, what exactly qualifies as a "world class cultural event" these days?
I've lived in large metros before, but given my current state of mind, I think living in one now would shorten my life rather than lengthen it. Better hospitals would be an afterthought.
Of course the two cities I frequent these days, are among the highest crime cities in the U S, so that probably affects my perspective. Too crowded and stressful for me, but tolerable in small doses (baseball and hockey games).
Considering the depraved state of modern American society, what exactly qualifies as a "world class cultural event" these days?
I would say that pretty much any concert by the Los Angeles Philharmonic or the Los Angeles Master Chorale or any production by Los Angeles Opera qualifies as a world class cultural event.
I am giving as examples what I know first-hand; I am not claiming that (for example) Los Angeles Opera is "better" than the Met in New York. But I am claiming that it is equivalent. Yes, that is a strong claim, and we could argue it back and forth, which would be off-topic for the thread anyway.
Nor am I claiming that world class cultural events in the United States are limited to Los Angeles and New York, but those are the strongest obvious cases to be made in answer to your question.
I even agree with you that American society in general is in a "depraved state", but your rhetoric on the matter is exaggerated. I don't mind a bit that you don't care for urban areas - that doesn't offend me just because I am completely content here. Although I live only ten miles from downtown Los Angeles, I live on a pleasant, walkable, safe, tree-lined, middle class street.
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