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Publisher’s Note
Publisher’s Note

The Flash Spotted in South Florida …

MEDICAL DIVISION
To say I’ve been up close and personal (at least more than my norm) with a hospital the
past couple of weeks is definitely no exaggeration. First Drew had a short stay to wrestle with
his uncooperative blood clots; but then just as his first stay was ending Carol got herself
admitted. (In the doctor’s words: Go to the hospital, do not pass go, do not collect $200!) for
WhatWha t is Financial Plaanning is Financial Planning
to Coastal W ealth? her blood pressure. The good news, their stays only overlapped by 2 days and my Apple
Helping you achieve watch logged more steps since the day I got it! But then Carol finally got out after a long 7
your goals days, and 3 days later Drew went back in for some further treatment. The vascular depart-
ment at Delray Medical did a great job and may have even made a bit a progress in Drew’s
with accoun tability! persistent fight against DVT leg blockages. Kudos and much heartfelt thanks to all!
However, to paraphrase Frank Sinatra’s My Way, “Suggestions I’ve a few, but not too many
that I can’t mention …”
My first suggestion is perhaps the least crucial (since as Carol likes to point out to our dinner guests on a regular basis – it’s
not like it’s their last meal and it has to be amazing!) But food service really shouldn’t be “one size fits all.” And at the very
least, grim food served on equally grim trays in the 21st century might need an upgrade. Even pleasant food service employees
can’t disguise “Alcatraz” meals.
But our family’s most important suggestion involves Discharge instructions when prescriptions involve opioids. Now we
completely understand what our country is going through battling this deadly opioid scourge; however, there are times when
it is legally prescribed by a physician for use following a hospital stay (especially as in our case, when it involves extremely
painful blood clots.) So as Drew was getting his Discharge instructions, Carol even had the forethought to ask, “What do we
do if our normal pharmacy doesn’t have opioids in stock (especially on a Sunday?) At which point, we were informed the phar-
macy would then check its other branches to find a location where we could get the medication filled. Well, maybe that’s what
used to happen? But nowadays, pharmacies say they aren’t allowed to check on existing opioid inventories at other locations
even within the same chain, leaving the caregiver in the unenviable position of true pharmacy hopping! I guess, in retrospect,
I was lucky I only had to visit 5 different pharmacies to find the needed medication (not to mention a very sympathetic phar-
macist) and I was back home in under 3 hours. But it was a frustrating and frightening problem and remains a discharge dilem-
(954) 625-1515
WWW . CASEYSJOHNSON C . OM ma – especially for hospitals that do not have the ability to fill RXs prior to actual physical discharge. So my question to all is
“How do we fill this gap?” Your thoughts, suggestions, commiserations, are welcome.
And in an attempt to end on a brighter note, despite all Carol’s been through lately she had the presence of

mind to order me a “Flash” t-shirt since I’d been doing so much for her and Drew in the last couple of weeks.
i si
d She said I reminded her of my idol Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory in my favorite
ci al p gr d Halloween episode, dashing from one chore to the next.
Charles Felix
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You can reach Charles Felix at Charles@southfloridahospitalnews.com

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2 June 2018 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News