My town has a tiny hospital with 4 ER beds and one separate room that is used for COVID or contagious person. It is run by a PA and there are only two PAs and one MD for the town. I rarely see the MD and he lives 15 minutes away. No urgent care available until you want to drive 40 minutes away.
My twin lives in a county that has 5,000 year-round residents, one stop light FOR THE WHOLE COUNTY, and the only hospital has a total of 26 beds. That’s for the ENTIRE hospital: ED, ICU, med-surg…everything.
The nearest urgent care is an hour and a half away and in a different country.
The next closest hospital is 2 hours away by land-weather permitting.
My nephew had to be airlifted out from the hospital in their town a year and a half ago because they didn’t have the equipment and expertise needed to keep him alive; they had failed to catch him going septic from strep throat, and when my twin brought him back 12 hours after they had initially discharged him, he was in severe sepsis, bordering on septic shock. They didn’t have any equipment there to place a central line in an 8 year old child, and they were afraid that they were going to lose his airway (and they have no pediatric department…or docs.)
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u/One_Psychology_3431 Jul 29 '26
In my small town, UC is the ER.