Here in Los Angeles County there are several "free clinics" many who offer a sliding scale or who take Medicare, but most of them cannot take more patients or are too booked to help you if you are having a sort of emergency.
If you are having problems breathing, having pain in the abdomen, think you may be miscarrying, you are told to go to Olive View, or one of the other county hospitals that are operating on no money somehow...
Olive View in particular has a 12 hour wait on the average in the emergency room. Of course patients ambulanced in go first. But have you ever sat that long next to someone who was pretty sure they were going to need surgery on a gallbladder or an appendix? We have.
Some people say they get excellent care for all their waiting, others remain unable to work waiting...
And YES there is a small homeless population sleeping sitting up in the lights and uncomfortable chairs of the Olive View waiting room...
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