one of the little flaws of our system ( i'm french) is that all being free a lot of people go to the emergency when a simple visit to the doctor would suffice,

one of the little flaws of our system ( i'm french) is that all being free a lot of people go to the emergency when a simple visit to the doctor would suffice, this mean emergency rooms are often surcharged and nurses have to prioritize who can see a doctor first and long waiting time when you are not in a critical condition. I have been in a motorcycle accident, the "fire house departement" ( we call them that but they do 90% medical emergency, they are trained for that ) arrived promptly, i had to wait 1h as i was not in a critical condition but i had all the treatment and analyses you say you had in dallas. And i live in a small country town. The only other thing who feel real in your account is that the hospital might feel old ( walls, paint, etc. ). Your friend might not tell you everything or he had a very bad exeptionnal experience who is not representative.