Access this!

Busy morning around here. Maggie needed blood work done so I had to cancel the bus, take her up to UCSF and then drive her to school. No big deal really, but first we had to retrieve the car from the Office Max parking lot where it had been stuck since yesterday afternoon. Mission accomplished, and it’s just 10AM. I just have to remember to pick Maggie up after school. She cannot take the bus home because she needs to have the nurse with her and the nurse met her at school today. Hence, the nurse cannot ride the bus here because her car is at school. La la la la round and round we go. .

UCSF is an amazing medical complex. The two hospitals are 14 stories each, and there are also medical buildings, medical, nursing and pharmacy schools and all the necessary support those require. It is so big it actually has its own zip code. It is a confusing interconnected set of buildings shoehorned into a space never intended to have so many buildings. There are very old buildings and very new buildings, but, as with any medical center or university setting, space is at a premium.

The care at UCSF is as good as medical care gets in this country or any other. Not everybody is as fortunate as I am to have this level of care so close to home. We have met people from all over the country, and from other countries as well, who travel to UCSF for their care. Maggie and I, on the other hand, are neighbors of this great place and know the best times of day to snag parking.

UCSF is in the process of building a new children’s hospital at another site. It will not be finished until Maggie is out of pediatrics. The UCSF Children’s hospital needs its own identity. It is currently housed within the main hospital. It also needs more space.

This morning we made our way to the lab before 9AM. There was no one in the waiting room. SCORE! But there was also no one in the lab. We put our paper in the tray and sat down. The phlebotomist came in and immediately gave me attitude. Before I could even say good morning, or nod a hello he said, “You’re not first, those people were waiting ahead of you” pointing out into the hallway that spills over from the waiting room of the urgent care department. I respond: “Ok, that’s fine we just put our paper down and we’re waiting. “ His rather terse response was, “Well they get to go first; I will take them before you.” Now I’m a little miffed and said again, [with my own attitude] “ok, I’m just sitting here”.

The other child, also extremely disabled, is sitting in her mom’s lap out in the hall. Mom carries her in and smiles at me somewhat knowingly. I smiled back but I am still perplexed at the whole exchange.

While they are inside, I notice this sign:

Oh.

I do not know how I missed that sign, but I would never expect to see it. Perhaps that is because it is in violation of the law. He does not want wheelchairs taking up space in his waiting room. That is why the other woman was in the hall and that is why she carried her child in.

Pshaw. Homey don’t play that.

When Maggie turn was called, I wheeled her in and of course, there was no access.

He said without looking up, “you have to take her out of the chair and carry her over here.”
I just said, “No. You will have to come over here.” Then he looked up, and I smiled sweetly.*

And he did.

In fairness, the person does not have much room and that is something to take up with the higher ups. However, he cannot make wheelchairs off limits or expect parents of teenagers to carry them into his lab for blood work.

This is a medical center; they need to make it accessible for everyone who needs care. And guess what, someitmes people in wheelchairs need medical care.

I'm smiling sweetly again.*

*I told my sister this story and she said "ooohhhh, I know that smile" [It might not be that sweet]