Book Review of Julie Salamon’s Hospital

Julie Salamons book Hospital Man, Woman, Birth, Death, Infinity, Plus Red Tape, Bad Behavior, Money, God and miscellanea on Steroids presents an informative and revelatory portrayal of how medicine and the U. S. wellness fright system operates within the confines of our modern and multicultural society. The book offers a queer perspective as the story is told from the standpoint of those who manage, organize and run the inner workings of the Maimonides Medical Centre.Thus offering her readers not only an investigation of the relationship amid doctors and their patients but also presents the financial, multicultural and ethical concerns and issues faced by the infirmary staff and patients. In her book Salamon raises the important issue of how medical institutions, which are dedicate in place to serve and aid the sick and the wounded, are constantly competing against external and internal pressures of money and politics.She explores the expectations imposed by a fragile health car e system upon hospitals that are obviously everywherewhelmed by the urgency and needs of their communities. This reality is presented in the very first chapter of her book where she introduces the reader to a novel doctor named Gregorius who has come to Maimonides Medical Center to complete his residency. Here the reader is given the first impressions of the new comer who describes the emergency area as Crowded. unfeignedly crowded.Stretchers with patients were lined up two-and three-deep, with the lucky ones semi-secluded behind curtains that barely closedhad he landed in the Third World country or a growth nation (p. 16) Salamon reveals that Overcrowding had become commonplace in American emergency rooms which had, for people without medical insurance, become the doctors office. (p. 16) She reveals a system which encourages the over flooding of emergency rooms with paying patients who are then rushed through the process of discharge as quickly as possible, so as to create a continual flow of turn over, she says admits one doctor.(p. ) Consequently, the continual over flooding then leads to a destructive cycle of nurses and doctors mending the reverse and the wounded at a hurried pace thus giving way to possible neglect and carelessness of patient care and the eventual overload and burnout of the medical staff. In her book, Salamon conveys how the infrastructure within our health care system is being governed by a marketplace philosophy whereby doctors are just as concerned about profits and reimbursements as they are about delivering care.How efficient is a system which is more concerned with getting patients out the door than allowing them to in full recover in an environment which has their best interest at heart. Not only has the system been shown to be faulty and inefficient but on what level is the process to be challenged in respect to morality? Should society look the other way simply because in the end the patient does receive care and survi ves? Overall Salamon offers an emotional account of the trials and tribulations of the various medical and administrative staff of the Maimonides Medical Centre.However, Salamons investigation of the inner workings of urban hospitals neglects to demonstrate how authoritative financial and hearty issues plague the average American seeking hospital treatment. The topic of the uninsured and their treatment within the hospital setting is barely intercommunicate of by Salamon she fails to address the issues that afflict so mevery lower and middle class individuals who are clearly dissuaded from showing up at local hospitals simply because they do not have insurance.Instead she chooses to present the reader with a medical staff that is focused on the individual patient rather than with the larger social issues which doesnt make very much sense for a book whose main purpose is to investigate the functioning of the U. S. health care system. In summary, the position of the matter is that one day either you or a loved one will be a patient in a hospital and despite the fact that you were led to believe that hospitals are institutions free of any bureaucracy, politics and cultural influence this is simply not the case.The medical attention accredited by any individual within the United Sates health care system is inevitably influenced by the multiculturalism that surrounds us, the constant evolution of technology and the economics which engulfs any private or public institution. These are aspects which as demonstrated in Salamons book, prevail even in a non-profit medical facility kindred the Maimonides Medical Centre. References Salamon, J. (2008). Hospital Man, Woman, Birth, Death, Infinity, Plus Red Tape, Bad Behavior, Money, God and Diversity on Steroids. N