A private urgent care is not the same as a hospital. The sad fact is they probably wouldn't have been able to do anything except try to get him to a hospital anyway. As the story shows he didn't make it there. His family should have called 911. If you're EVER in doubt in the US call 911. It will not be cheap but they will do everything they can.
Yup - if ever in doubt, call 911 or go to the emergency room.
Emergency Room(s) has everything in terms of equipment, and not to forget, access to specialist. I have been with the same doctor (in private practice) for over thirty years. I took my wife to see our doctor. She (the doctor) poke and feel and then said it would be best for us to get to the hospital emergency. She went on to explain:
if we ordered blood test, and as needed, x-ray, CAT scan, whatever, you could be dead before the results are back, and if not, you can wait for an appointment with a specialist. She was right on. That was my first visit to the emergency room.
The second time I took my wife to the emergency room directly in the middle of the night. It was over my wife's objection because
she wanted to wait till morning till the doctor's office opens. At the emergency, after the initial vital check, she was taken to the "resuscitation room" to stabilize her. She was (re)admitted to the hospital a few hours later. I was told during the stabilization that
"she wouldn't have last the night" the condition she was in.
So when in doubt, get to the Emergency Room if you can, or call 911.
I now own a
blood pressure meter and a heart beat monitor. They are not medical grade and need practice to get consistent readings. But, they help me make better decisions.
Lastly, one thing we do not normally think about: While
Obama Care requires medical records to be electronic, it did not requires inter-connectivity between medical services/groups. We were using a lab and medical imaging service in a group different from the ones used by our specialist-doctor and the hospital. I know from discussing with the doctor about a prior scan but then learn that he never received the result for that scan. So I started waiting for the results (and CD of images) to hand to the doctor directly. Eventually
I switched over to using the same lab/imaging service used by the specialist to avoid data lost and time lost.So, if you have the need for specialist-doctor and your
specialist-doctor use an imaging service differ than your GP-doctor, do put that into consideration.
I even read that in the US, a couple of days ago, a 17 years old boy died of COVID-19 just because he could not afford to pay the hospital while yesterday mr Trump promised to help Italy with health devices for a value of 100 millions of USD
that does make little sense given that even the US have a lack of those devices while the contagion in the most stricken parts of Italy is already decreasing and probably Spain might need them more than us now
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In the USA, law exist that an acute patient cannot be rejected by any hospital - even private hospitals. The patient must be stabilized and under no immediate danger before they can let the patient leave. Law is one thing, hospitals and emergency rooms are in practice a chaotic place. I had to visit the emergency room on a couple of occasions - had the wait-time for the 2nd visit been as long as the 1st visit, my wife would probably have died waiting. If you can wait, they will see you - insured or not. Died while waiting - well, happens to the insured and uninsured.
That 17 year old who died may not be in the USA. Besides being rejected by hospital which is hard to believe, according to CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR March 26 update (with corrections)[1]), there is no confirmed deaths for anyone at or below 19 years old.
https://nypost.com/2020/03/28/17-year-old-dies-of-coronavirus-was-turned-away-for-lacking-insurance/
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The article pointed out that "LA County announced the boy had died from the coronavirus —
health officials said there may be an “alternate explanation” and that his death would be further investigated" [Bold added].
I actually did saw the article and was going to point it out to my kid so she is more careful - but that last line there stopped me. They are not yet sure and I wrote it off in my mind as virus-death consequently.
The linked article was dated March 28 but reference "by Wednesday he was dead" so it could be Wed March 25. The CDC report I cited was updated March 26. So as of March 26, CDC has not yet considered that case a virus-caused death. May be CDC will do so once the "further investigation" is completed.