The latvian health system

Oh, what a day!
I have met every man in white as I possibly can imagine! …. You say, this is a great thing???.... Mh?..... What for some people seems to be heaven or comes close to a soap opera, turned out to be a looooong day waiting in front of closed doors! Honestly, there is not that much fun in queuing with 40 other patients on a corridor!

Work regulations in Latvia said…. I needed a regular health check-up! Very useful… and being forced to face the doctor, is actually a wise step to also keep me focused on my health….. it is so easy to forget those things…..

Well…. this took me this morning to “Vesilibas centris 4”, which is Rigas health center4…. A house with all doctors, therapies and treatments you can think of!
Only problem was, I had no clue how things would work and what I actually had to do! And since the doctors speak English, but the secretaries usually don’t…... it was a huge relief, when all of a sudden my college BAIBA showed up right in front of me! She were able to give me instructions how to conquer the jungle.

I got numbers like at a German employment centre….. And then after waiting looong hours….. I changed doctors, as if I have never been to any before. Normal family doc, EKG, eyes doc, neurologist, roentgen pictures, gyn, blood tests….. You name it!

YES! Makes you feel well instantly!!! ……. In case it turns out you are not.... the hole atmosphere can be very depressing. Hallways with no daylight or fresh air, lots of people sitting in front of doors. Some who cannot wait, just enter the rooms, giving the patient inside no privacy. Everyone on the corridor can observe, what happens inside……whether you are “naked” or not, does not really matter, neither to the people waiting nor to the doctors….
No pictures or music anywhere……just slamming of doors, some conversations….. like a big impersonal human factory.

Let me guess…. You got the picture that I did not have as much fun as I would have loved. What do you actually do in Latvia, if you are really sick??? There is this sign, that I remember at my last visit to one city hospital.…. “Please take all belongings to where they came from, nurses are not responsible serving you!”….. Hopefully, I will never get seriously ill in Latvia!