Jun. 28, 2003 - 22:12 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

V - V

Here lies the noble roman Friday Five

1. - How are you planning to spend the summer ?

A. - Safely, sanely and comfortably as possible.

2. - What was your first summer job ?

A. - Pounding clay into forms for tiles.

3. - If you could go anywhere this summer, where would it be ?

A grand tour and visit to the places where people I have learned to love, live. California, Arizona, North Carolina, Florida, Illinois Texas, Maine, New Hampshire, Canada, Australia and of course Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK and other places too numerous to mention.

4. - What was your worst vacation ever ?

A. - A trip from Tampa, Florida to visit our folks in Denver, Colorado. Four kids, oldest 12, two in between the youngest age 5. Vehicle - old Plymouth Surburban. A lot of traveling and visiting to do in a very short time. We drove straight through, soon the four kids were sequestered each to a corner, which kept down the fights but emphasized the use of complaints and whines. Coffee can with lid for emergency potty use. With an eye on the gas gage and info on the milage to the next town, when the time came I would find a filling station beside a super market. Pull up to the pumps, kids to the rest room, them back and in the car, the attendant paid I would make my pit stop returning just as Heather would hop in with sacks of future food. The future starting as soon as the car started rolling. I would get draggy and switch with Heather and let her drive a while. Worked for a time, but a slight swerve of the car would awaken me with a, "What the heck is happening ?" feeling. About the second time of that and I would switch back and drive on. Heather would stay awake to make sure I did so too. Got stressful in Texas when I spent the good part of a night circling between Dallas and Fort Worth on the blooming loops. Some where a directional sign was missing and I couldn't find the way out. Would get off the loop and ask policemen the way out, they didn't know, taxi drivers, the same, milk truck drivers same answer. Finally off the loop again I pulled in and parked at an all night diner and got a cup of coffee, as I came out a man in a sombrero, jeans and boots came out about the same time as I did. He was headed for a pickup and I hurried up and asked him if he could tell me the way out of town to go to Denver. A big grin, a nod and a, "Follow me stranger and go off on the next turn-off after I turn off and you are on your way." By the time we hit Denver I was utterly exhausted and Heather the same, the grandparents took over the kids as we hit the sack. In the short time we were there we visited with every one and ate hugely and enjoyed ourselves immensely. - - - - The return trip was essentially the same with the exception of the oldest riding shotgun with a shoebox on his lap containing a horrendously hugely pregnant Horny Toad. About half way home scads of tiny toads began to trickle around the bottom of the box their numbers increasing as time went on. Everybody was trying to look in the box, including me snatching a look now and then. It did cut down on the internecine moves of the kids. Arrived home late with me due at work the next morning. That was the worst.

5. - What was your best vacation ever ?

A. - The year our baby of the family was 19 just before she headed up to Boulder to live on campus at University of Colorado. The three of us flew to Puerto Vallarta for a week. The hotel Playa del Oro was a well constructed place, especially for living that far south, louvered doors, ventilated closets, squeaky clean throughout, fabulous dining, great hospitality, Love Boat docking next to the site, we watched the tourists begin their touring by disembarking a time or two. Much beach time, but more than enough time to shop that the ladies just about broke us. I walked shotgun beside them going through the shops looking myself, wanted a nice ring but when I found one I liked it would be too small or too large. One evening cruise of the general area on a catamaran with drinks provided. We knew our daughter was grown before we left and it was shown to us by her poise, good manners and intelligent ideas. It was a wonderful experience, that. It was a sort of Bon Voyage, Farewell celebration as daughter met and married a man at university there, moved to Santa Barbara where they finished their education and moved to Oregon for him to work at the university in Oregon. Heather and I have had some good ones, but that sticks in my memory and heart as the best one ever.

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Item in the Rocky Mountain News of June 27 by Rachel Brand "Denver Health to lay off 122" Denver Health Medical Center (the old Denver General Hospital) will lay off 122 people and furlough 1,271 others."

A few things of note, Denver Health is the cities busiest inner-city public hospital. Its 4,000 workers care for talk to, and reach out to 900,000 people a year. In 1997 I was one of those people. What a great hospital, staffed with top flight medical people. They saved my life.

Says here, "As the numbers of uninsured patients at Denver Health's doorstep have skyrocketed, uncompensated care has jumped to a projected $252 million this year from $200 million in 2000.

Care of the indigent has always been split between Denver General Hospital and the old Colorado General hospital (Now University Hospital), usually patients from out of town went to Colorado General and citizens of Denver were taken to Denver General.

More in the article, "Further, key revenue streams such as Medicaid, indigent care funds, federal disproportionate share money and commercial insurance payments are shrinking."

Further on is the eye opener, "In May, voters overwhelmingly approved a $148 million bond offering that will add 100 hospital rooms, nine operating rooms and a sprawling outpatient facility. But the money is earmarked for expanding and modernizing the hospital -- not day to day operations."

The building is going on apace I see when we drive by. But I wonder, who will be working there ? Staff stolen from the rest of the facility ? Or will the beds remain empty, the nine operating rooms without doctors and nurses ? And who will be taking care of the sprawling outpatient facility ?

And to complicate matters yet more is the accompanying article by Bill Scanlon, "Nurse's Union Barred"

"Denver Health says labor organization is not necessary."

Nurses say they want a guaranteed voice to make sure patients aren't cared for by overworked nurses."

There has been jockeying to and fro, talking sub rosa and some above board too. I have seen this sort of stuff in many instances in my lifetime and I think the nurses should have a right to have a say.

The article states, " Last October the hospital added 100 nurses to keep patient loads lower."

"True, said Lynette Pitcock, an official with the Service Employees International Union, but management never would have hired the 100 extra nurses if it hadn't wanted to blunt pro-union stirrings. If the union is banned, managers soon may let the patient loads go back up, she said."

I remember how it was in the late 30's understaffed, overworked people, insufficient equipment and facilities. Seems to me that the board of directors has made a very bad move in barring a nurse's union. I can imagine a flight of nurses to where things are a bit more secure. I think nurses want to work in a place that guarantees they won't be responsible for more patients than they can safely care for and I think they should have that right at Denver Health Medical Center.

So much for the V - V . . . . . . . . . .

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