Hua Hin Hospital: a medical hive

Hua Hin has three hospitals, so it's usually: which of the three? The private Bangkok Hospital is brand new, but still has some teething problems. The San Paolo, also a private hospital, has good quality medical care, but is housed in an old building, next to a night market. Finally, we have the Hua Hin Hospital, built in 2007 and a government hospital.

Because my friend Ray was not feeling well this morning, she chose the latter hospital, especially since it is the closest. She has health insurance, but it only covers the cost of admission, not the cost of outpatient examinations and associated medications. She would be treated for a shot in this state hospital, were it not for the fact that she is registered in Nakhon Pathom. Patients who are not registered in Hua Hin have to pay, albeit less than in a private hospital. Remarkably enough, foreigners can also go to the state hospitals, although there is a slightly higher price tag.

Anyway: we on the Honda Click to the hospital. Who is interested in the real Thailand, must report to a state hospital. It is a kind of medical beehive, where the honey consists of doctors who 'finish' patients in small rooms. At first glance, the hardware in the rooms I've seen doesn't have much to do with it; flat screen monitors and modern printers everywhere. The hospital looks clean, but that is also acceptable for an institution that is less than five years old. In addition, a floor is reserved for members of the Royal Family.

I have great admiration for the nurses and related support who have to do their job in this chaos. The rooms with hundreds of patients (and their families) are overcrowded. The average age is above forty, with peaks up and down. Everyone waits patiently for their turn, including the many wheelchair users. There is no foreigner to be seen in any fields or roads. Yet no one deems me worthy of an (extra) look.

After a first series of administrative actions, we arrive on the first floor, where the necessary (often female) doctors are housed. Ray is given priority because she can barely stand on her feet and tends to throw up. Via the doctor it goes to the emergency room in a wheelchair. This is an exciting space where medical procedures can be performed quickly. There are two beds for CPR and four for casualties. Scattered over a few corners, a few people lie still in their beds. The treatment rooms are separated by curtains, but they are open all the time. In one of the CPRs, five or six nurses and orderlies have to restrain a man who (unconsciously?) resists all the tubes and monitors on and in his body. He is tied to his bed with sheets. Here, too, the medical and nursing staff appear to be competent and efficient and the equipment is reasonably up-to-date. Not exactly a place for medical tourism, but suitable if something unexpected happens.

Ray receives an intravenous syringe and is allowed to recover from the shock on a bed. Then it goes in the wheelchair to the cash register and the dispensing of the prescribed medicines. That turns out to be a whole pharmacy, from paracetamol via ORS to medicines that should suppress the urge to vomit. And so on…

The costs are manageable: the visit to the doctor is 70 baht on the bill. The injection cost 130 baht, while the 'home pharmacy' was provided for 550 baht. Come back next week.