Posted by Craig on February 23, 2000, at 0:56:34
In reply to Hospital Lost...Help, posted by harry b. on February 22, 2000, at 16:41:33
Having worked in the Admissions Department in a hospital, maybe I can shed some light on how patients are admitted. Basically, there are admissions directly from the Emergency Room and admissions that are scheduled. Hospitals maintain waiting lists of people who are to be admitted by a physician on the hospital staff. If I'm understanding you, you would like to be assured that there is a bed available for you now that you've decided to be hospitalized. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee of that and the fact that your psychiatrist isn't on staff at a hospital complicates things even more. I doubt very much that anyone in the admitting department would (or could) tell you if a bed on the psych ward is available. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that's the reality of it.
If your doctor isn't on staff at any hospital, she ought to know a colleage with admitting privileges somewhere. She is in a position to know that some patients may need hospitalization at some point in their treatment and should be prepared to deal with this kind of crisis. She strikes me as being rather cold to have recommended hospitalization only two weeks ago and now she's basically telling you "you're on your own now."
I don't know if you live in a large city, but if you do, you have more options - meaning that you have more than one hospital to choose from. Stress that you are suicidal because it's more likely that you'd be admitted if you are an eminent threat to yourself or others. What your doctor has said about the admissions process is correct. Pray that you have good medical insurance.
I have been admitted to psych wards more often than I'd care to remember and most times I was told by my doctor to go to the emergency room. The hospital would contact him about my current situation and I was never denied admission. Most of the time, I went to a hospital where my psychiatrist wasn't on staff (because it was the best hospital in the area), was evaluated in the ER by a resident, and assigned a staff physician.
I am truly sorry that you have no support system and are having to work your way through all these hoops yourself. Why won't your new doc help you? Stress to her that you're all alone in this and desperately need help, especially at a time when it's already hard to make decisions. At this point, if she won't help you, you'd be better off with another doctor. I would encourage you to go to an ER, but bear in mind that there is a possibility that you won't get admitted. If you are to be admitted, it's possible that they would allow you to go home to do what you need to arrange. Maybe they would put you on the urgent admission list. Tell these professionals that you have no one to help you and you are overwhelmed with having to deal with all this on your own.
My best wishs to you,
Craig
poster:Craig
thread:22792
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000220/msgs/23268.html