4 ms·

"SES" in this context is socio-economic status? I hadn't seen it used to classify hospitals before. I worked at an emergency homeless shelter for a while, long

by mrec 7y ago

"SES" in this context is socio-economic status? I hadn't seen it used to classify hospitals before. I worked at an emergency homeless shelter for a while, long ago, and saw the same kind of thing you talk about. I'm not sure it was quite as deliberate, but you can absolutely set someone up in a perfectly nice free apartment and they'll still somehow find themselves back on the street in short order. Now, that's not everyone! Not by a long shot. You're absolutely right that throwing money by itself is not going to eliminate homelessness, but throwing some money would probably take a good-sized chunk out of it.

prostheticvamp 7y ago
> “SES" in this context is socio-economic status? I hadn't seen it used to classify hospitals before. Yeah, we were a safety-net hospital across the street from a prison. We got a lot of inmates, had a locked wing on most floors for prisoner patients, many many uninsured illegal immigrants, etc. We had quite a few patients that should have gone home, but we couldn’t safely discharge them, so we were just their free hotel while they hung in social support limbo - we were owned by the county, so taxes paid for their stay, and they were in no rush to leave. It was very much a case of seeing how most failed social policy ultimately ends up in the hospitals. Working in wealthier hospitals is way more fun. Treating disease is much more satisfying than “treating” poverty.
- csharptwdec19 7y ago
  Question. Or maybe a statement Given how expensive medical care can be, doesn't this indicate that perhaps our current system is more expensive to society as a whole? (I mean, there are other factors, but given that the cost of health care is something that even more 'well off' people care about, perhaps it is a better angle to push for discussion and reform?)

4 ms·

"SES" in this context is socio-economic status? I hadn't seen it used to classify hospitals before. I worked at an emergency homeless shelter for a while, long

by mrec 7y ago

prostheticvamp 7y ago
> “SES" in this context is socio-economic status? I hadn't seen it used to classify hospitals before. Yeah, we were a safety-net hospital across the street from a prison. We got a lot of inmates, had a locked wing on most floors for prisoner patients, many many uninsured illegal immigrants, etc. We had quite a few patients that should have gone home, but we couldn’t safely discharge them, so we were just their free hotel while they hung in social support limbo - we were owned by the county, so taxes paid for their stay, and they were in no rush to leave. It was very much a case of seeing how most failed social policy ultimately ends up in the hospitals. Working in wealthier hospitals is way more fun. Treating disease is much more satisfying than “treating” poverty.
- csharptwdec19 7y ago
  Question. Or maybe a statement Given how expensive medical care can be, doesn't this indicate that perhaps our current system is more expensive to society as a whole? (I mean, there are other factors, but given that the cost of health care is something that even more 'well off' people care about, perhaps it is a better angle to push for discussion and reform?)