Healthcare for all

25th July 2013

A non-stop day but a day full of interest.

This morning I accompanied the Associate Pastor on some visits to a couple of care homes where some elderly church members were resident.

The first visit was to a lady in her mid-80s. I’ll call her Freda. Freda is quite frail but still as bright as a button with a lovely sense of humour. She asked me whether I’d been up to the mountains and I told her about the visit to Lake Junaluska and to the motorcycle museum in Maggie Valley.

“I used to ride motorcycles. I started off riding pillion with my husband. But I didn’t like that so he got me my own bike. The last bike I had was a Kawasaki 900!”

She told me that her great granddaughter had just been born. “She’s cute. But her nose is too big. Still I suppose she’ll grow into it.”

The lady was a real blessing and I came away smiling.

Lunch time I met a chaplain for the main trauma hospital in Charlotte. When the meeting had been arranged I’d thought that she was the kind of hospital chaplain who sees patients on wards etc. But in fact her main level of chaplaincy is to the staff dealing with trauma whether in the operating theatres, or first responders.

The conversation soon moved on from chaplaincy to other areas. For example gay marriage and the church’s attitude to it and homosexuality. She also mentioned that in her experience in this part of the world there is still a view that committing suicide is a sin. Consequently, family members dealing with the consequences of a suicide not only have the guilt of the person’s death but also the guilt of sin too,

I said in my experience in the UK this attitude no longer applied, apart from among some Catholics.

A really interesting conversation. All too short.

This afternoon I was taken to the Christian Mission headquarters in Mooresville. I am now clearer on what the Christian Mission does. It operates a Foodbank but also provides clothes and household items and furniture. Clients are also given debt advice and signposted to other agencies. A very good set up.

After this I was taken to see the free healthcare clinic “Healthreach Community Clinic”. This is a good set up offering free health care to families where the total household income was less than $50,000 a year. I met a number of the staff (including the director). They are doing wonderful work.

But, my American friends, I find it appalling that the wealthiest country on the planet cannot provide decent healthcare for all citizens. Most European countries have some sort of state health care system so why can’t the US?