The Clinic in El Salvador

Samantha and I walked to the road to catch the bus that would drop us in front of the clinic, half an hour waiting and still no bus. An SUV took the wrong turn and lucky for them, I asked if they could give us a ride. A little hesitant they accepted and took us. We got there, asked if the doctor could see her and waited, waited.. waited along with many other sick children. The service reminded me of my experience in the hospitals in Chile, poor, unfriendly, courtesy is not in the employee handbook. I tried to put myself in place of the personnel and I did manage to sympathize with them. Underpaid, depressing setting, depressing experiences and exposed to illness great part of the day. I must say that in the end, despite the wait I received a very competent service and best of all I didn’t have to pay a penny and the prescription was included. In contrast, the day before I went with another cruiser to see a doctor in a private office and for only $10 she received a top notch service. Would I have paid $10? Of course, but it was Sunday and in a different town. We just didn’t have that option. What is wrong with the US anyway? Why to see a doctor for 5 min costs $100 plus the monthly premium we pay for insurance? It sucks!