Comment by exabrial | Hacker News Reader

Comment by exabrial | Hacker News Reader

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Yes and then sort of no, but YES.

The largest expense for running an ER is dealing with people that use it as a homeless shelter. I have first and second hand knowledge of this.

Weather gets cold? Visit Er. Due to federal regulation, even if a person visits 13 times a day (facility record btw) they can’t be turned away.

Progress needs to be made on both avenues. ERs need the ability to turn expensive frequent fliers away and be absolved of liability, but also shelter programs that are metrics based (job placement, illicit substance abuse, participation in mental health) need private funding.

California funds an enormous prison population, a significant portion of them are non violent or victimless crimes. So that being said, the money is already available.

My friend did part of her residency at an ER in Los Angeles. She went from being generally upbeat but overworked to being a full on misanthrope in 6 months. I am not sure what the solution is but we should recognize that our healthcare workers are critical members of our society and dealing with this shit burns them out fast.

The solution is reforming the American healthcare system… because at least from what I can anecdotally tell… usually it takes years of even decades (global average worldwide)to turn a upbeat medical resident into a cynical misanthrope.

That’s astonishingly quick to have someone go negative on humanity that fast… and it really reflects on how fucked healthcare is in America… even in a state that’s trying it’s best

Considering how geographically concentrated homelessness tends to be in large cities, wouldn't it be more cost-efficient for the state to run its own clinic or two in each major city?

> Considering how geographically concentrated homelessness tends to be in large cities, wouldn't it be more cost-efficient for the state to run its own clinic or two in each major city?

While they are administered at lower levels than the State (though significant funding flows through the state, including Medi-Cal funding, for them), there are more than “one or two” publicly-operated clinics in each of California’s major cities.

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