The doctor in training remembered telling one of her patients that, come July of this year, she would no longer be her physician. Martinez had been treating the patient for months at a local health care center for a variety of physical and psychiatric health issues.
*****
Lisa's doctor (Jenifer, AKA LadyDoc) is actually a Nurse Practitioner, and is as knowledgeable as any doctor I've ever seen. The biggest problem around here is our local hospital's emergency room is basically a large Urgent Care Center - they'll stabilize you for transport to a larger and better equipped hospital in the Nashville area.
That and testing. Other than X-rays and blood work, any testing that Lisa needs done is down in Gallatin, an hour's drive from here.
One HUGE difference between our care here and California is wait time. Here, we're in and out whereas in California you'd wait for an hour or more for a scheduled doctor's appointment.
Same thing with the emergency room - when I drive past the hospital in Portland TN, they've got a sign at the road telling you how long the wait is, and it's typically under 10 minutes. A trip to the emergency room in California was an all fucking day or night ordeal, and that was just sitting in the waiting room amusing yourself by counting how many languages you'd hear.
