Damn straight. Hammer-nail-head.
It's all about the money, and general people's general stupidity. Nobody wants to know why they're sick anymore- just give me a pill so I can FEEL better and go on my merry way. Or we'll just chop it out because you don't really need that useless organ.... Bollocks!
Anyway- OP, I know exactly what you're talking about, although I don't think I ever had it quite as bad as you describe....
Back when I was a lot younger I spent at least 5 hours in the ER for a simple broken finger- I waited about 2+ of those in the sitting room before anyone even realized we were there. I did not hear or see any sign of any severe trauma that would explain this, and the hospital did not appear crowded or busy.
Then when I was taken back to be seen, the damn doctor says the usual "let's see the finger", proceeds to give it a nice big YANK and says 'yep, it's broken'. NO SHIT!:rolleyes: They then sent me to the Xray tech (I never saw the doctor again, thank God) after waiting another inordinate amount of time. The only bright spot- those were the best xrays I've ever had taken in my life (guess which finger I broke...:D).
Afterwords they stuck a splint on it, and the nurse reffered me to a specialist 2 hours away to get it set/cast (which took a grand total of about 30 min.)- she actually told us not to come back to the hospital to have it taken care of, due to the demonstrated incompetence of certain staff.
More recently I have had some much more serious health issues ( I was set upon by an evil stomach virus that won't go away, and collapsed a lung multiple times). I won't bore you with all the details but I have since been to MANY different hospitals and doctors, and have gotten varying levels of the same ring-around-the-rosy at all of them.
Now to be fair, I have met a lot of really nice, skilled, caring people in this profession.
But then there are the folks like the doctor I mentioned that make you wonder how they even got there in the first place.
The first time I collapsed a lung and went to the hospital they had to admit me, and of course start an IV. The nurse I got apparently had no idea how to do it- long story short, she botched it so badly she bent the needle, blood was pouring out all over the place as she proceeded to twist it about trying to fix it, I almost passed out, and I swear she stuck it in to far because I still get occasional pain at that point on my hand. Apparently she must have been a graduate of the nursing program at the college I went to.:mad: I've never been a big fan of needles, but this was ridiculous-you'd have had to have been there to get the full effect. I'd rather have faced down a horde of jihadists with only a pistol than go back there again.

