Wednesday, December 26, 2007

A Coler Hospital Clinical Rotation: Christina’s Memory of “Joe”


I have noticed that when I find stories regarding Coler-Goldwater Hospital I feel bound to share them. Mostly because this part of Roosevelt Island tends to be forgotten and residents and visitors alike should be aware of this “other” Roosevelt Island and that we should take extra care to not forget that the hospitals came first and serve a greater purpose than those of us just living here. I guess I feel this as these residents did not ask to live here but due to medical reasons beyond their control simply ended up here.

The story I am posting about today is from a young woman, Christina, a dental hygienist, who served a clinical rotation on Roosevelt Island at the Coler Hospital Campus and recounts that experience in her blog and in particular her interaction with a patient named “Joe” she will not soon forget. Like many of these stories it is worth checking out and only will take a few moments.

3 comments:

  1. all i know is that a main down escalator was broken at 3 pm today... at the 8pm return trip, a DIFFERENT down escalator was broken, and the alarm bell was still ringing - somewhere.

    and the elevator that worked at 3 pm made HUGE screeching noises every so often. seriously, does mta and skanska hire people who can read, let alone handle a grease gun or a wrench?

    you don't need this reporting aid - just type the words 'roosevelt island' on a piece of paper, put a big X thru it, and hand it to any mta employee..

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  2. oops - second sentence should say escalator as well, not elevator.

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  3. i might as well atone by leaving a germane story: i'm appalled at the way the hospital residents are treated by many of the islanders. the day after christmas, an entire tram car emptied out and ignored the woman crying for someone to help her roll to goldwater. i did it. took 10 minutes.

    earlier this year, i watched a bus refuse to pick up any wheelchairs because he was 'too full.' he was 'full' only because the asswipe islanders with TWO LEGS refused to move away from the front door and make room - and the driver refused to MAKE them move.

    a coler resident had his batteries fail due to the cold one recent night, and he sat by the octagon for three hours until i rescued him. when i alerted the coler staff, it took THEM an hour to bother looking for us; by then, i had managed to push him almost to the door (i've pushed vw bugs that weighed less).

    last, it never fails to amaze me that people literally run to get in front of wheelchairs, strollers and the elderly at the subway elevator. god forbid they should have to exercise their lardy butts.

    one can only hope for the existence of karma, and expect to see some of the ruder folks in a shiny new wheelchair some day...

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