On Saturday night I went to Cinematheque to check out the
documentary, The Waiting Room. I had no idea what to expect from the film but
within the first five minutes I was completely enthralled. The people in the
film were all regular doctors, patients and staff at the Highland Hospital in
Oakland, California.
The film took place over about 24 hours and was a snapshot
of a day in a hospital waiting room in America. The people were so real and
they all struggled with different things. Their stories were what made The
Waiting Room a relatable film. I felt so bad for the patients that spent hours
sitting in pain in the waiting room waiting to get admitted to the emergency
room.
So many of the people didn’t have health insurance, so
they couldn’t afford to go to a regular doctor or buy the medicine that they
needed. Cynthia Y. Johnson is a Certified Nurse Assistant and she was the first person the patients would talk to before
seeing a doctor. She was the backbone for the film, after switching between
patients and doctors the focus would come back to Cynthia. She added several
moments of comedic relief, and her bright spirit and booming laughter made the
film a little lighter.
There were many people featured in the film
but the story was focused on a few main patients. There was a young girl with
strep throat whose father, Demia Bruce, had recently lost his job. He said he
had a two-year-old child pass away a few years ago and being in the hospital
with his daughter made him very nervous.
There was Davelo Lujuan a man who had been
laying carpet for years and because of that he now has horrible back pain. He
had gotten his wages cut in half and now he has his daughter and her baby
living with him. Even though he was in too much pain to keep laying carpet, he
had no choice because he needed to keep supporting his family.
Eric Morgan’s story was the one I found the
saddest. He is just a young man in his twenties who has a testicular tumor and
no money to pay for surgery. The hospital he went to before wouldn’t treat him
because he was not a member of the private practice. Although he needs surgery
immediately, by the end of the film he still could not get an operation on his
tumor.
The doctors in the film were so kind. They
all were doing everything they could to try to treat every person who came
through the door. Dr. Douglas White was really compassionate. He wouldn’t let a
patient leave unless they had a home to go to, and he also tried his best to
find his patients regular doctors to see so they wouldn’t have to wait in the
E.R every time they got sick.
Since the film was just a snapshot in time
and only focused on one hospital, I can’t say if it accurately depicts the
American health care system. Based on the amount of people that came into that
one E.R in one day, I assume that many other hospitals face the same daily
struggle to treat all of the patients.
According to their website, Health Canada’s
goal is:
for Canada to be
among the countries with the healthiest people in the world.
To achieve this
goal, Health Canada:
• Relies on high-quality scientific research as the basis for our work.
• Conducts ongoing consultations with Canadians to determine how to best
meet their long-term health care needs.
• Communicates information about disease prevention to protect Canadians
from avoidable risks.
Encourages Canadians to take an active
role in their health, such as increasing their level of physical activity and
eating well.
On the contrary, in an article from The
Globe and Mail, Jeffrey Simpson says “a host of
studies shows the Canadian health-care system middle-of-the-pack at best,
except for cost (private and public), where it ranks near the top. The studies
use different methodologies and weigh factors differently. No single one is
determinant, but most point in the same direction: The myth about Canadian
medicare is just that, a myth.”
For me, I believe that everyone has had a
different experience with Canada’s health care system. I have had the same
doctor since I was born and I have nothing to complain about. He always leaves
a few appointment times open everyday for emergencies, so if I get sick I don’t
have to wait 3 weeks to see a doctor or have to go to a walk-in clinic. I have
heard stories about people having to go to the states to get surgery because
they won’t do it in Canada, or people who have gotten misdiagnosed in Canada
but get properly diagnosed somewhere else. I know our system isn’t perfect and
some people find it unsatisfactory, but I haven’t personally had a bad experience
with our health care system.
The film was moving and educational and I
recommend you all go see it!
