The hassle
dazzle of getting into a community hospital
So I was
sick, very sick. I kind of thought I was going to boil up alive. I had taken a
day off work, but it was not enough. In Portugal, you have the right to be three
days at home when sick. I am a very conscious employee, so I decided to go
get help. I tumbled down the stairs from our apartment to my car where I sat
deep down on the driver´s seat, merely seeing over the steering wheel. Alright,
I am short(ish), anyhow I was buried in the seat.
Waze
directed me to CUF Cascais. All went fairly well at the hospital, got to see a
Doctor fast and had five (5!!) days of sick leave and a long list of
medications. When I got home, I spoke with a fellow colleague on the phone
telling her about my hospital visit. Then she remembered to inform me that, it
is not allowed to get sick leave from a private hospital. Whaaaaaaaat?
After about
10 calls here and there, including my mother (who is in Finland and cannot help
me by any means) I went to the community hospital near my house. Sweating and
heart pounding I entered a box-like building (actually it was a box, a building
container to be precise). I went to the counter where I found a bored (in life)
lady. I asked if it was possible to see a physician. She looked at me up and down,
and snorked “take a number”. I was bewildered, there was no one else in line. I
turned around, stretched my arm to a ticket machine and took a number, 75.
Seeventy-fivEEEE the lady shouted. I looked at her even more confused and said,
“That would be me”. She did not look happy at all. She asked for my healthcare number, which of
course I did not have since I never had needed one before. She said, “We cannot
help you”, and gave me a number to call. End of story. I was so angry, I had
tears running down my cheeks going home. What am I going to do? I opted in the
last resource possible and drove to a bigger community hospital nearby.
When I
reached the stairs of the entrance I fell. Look
at poor me, going to die soon, a 37 degree fever. The lady at the counter
saw me and my red cheeks and said that you can only make a healthcare number between
14-15h. Then she asked me to sit down, and she drew out papers and started to fill
them out for me. Bless good people. The next day I went in for a physician, she
gave me two days of rest, despite the five days given by a private physician. I
learned that community hospitals only give a maximum of three days at once and
then you have to drag yourself to the hospital again.
Lesson
learned, sort out all the relevant papers/identification codes before you
really need them!
