Comments on: “A Matter of Time”

By: Danielle Keister

Danielle Keister — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:56:12 +0000

I know, you’d think, right? That’s what got my wheels turning… there was apparently no help for this poor lady, or whatever help from the hospital there was, she may have already exhausted. So that got me thinking about how there are always people looking for ways to help and volunteer and there is a HUGE community around the whole “coach surfing” thing. Why not combine the two to supplement whatever other options are out there, particularly when formal hospital resources and aid have been used up already.

By: Cynthia Bullock

Cynthia Bullock — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:21:30 +0000

Hi Danielle, I didn’t see the episode but just from you synopsis, I am moved. I know many hospitals have financial aid assistance and perhaps that can be or is some form of support they can offer family of patients as well. Imagine what that mother will carry with her from now on. I’m heartbroken.

By: Pam Bingham

Pam Bingham — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 05:23:13 +0000

I saw that Dateline episode as well Danielle, and it was heartbreaking. There are service available to families paying their last respects, or visitng critically ill patients. Unfortunately I believe in this particular situation there were multiple barriers in play that prevented any of the services being utilized. Especially given that the hospital was in a relatively small town in the Central Coast of CA, I believe this woman and her son absolutely victims of circumstances. Great post by the way as I can talk about this episode quite a bit on many levels.

By: Danielle Keister

Danielle Keister — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:43:28 +0000

D’ops! How could I have forgotten, LOL. Do you know if Ronald McDonald houses are just for families of child patients? That’s the impression I always got. I don’t know that we even have them here in our area. Now you have my curiosity up. (This woman’s son was basically an adult, by the way, so if they had them down there, maybe that’s why they didn’t qualify.) But I was kinda of thinking more along the lines of how something like this could be done on a volunteer basis so that no one had to rely on hospitals building actual housing.

By: Hilda Ginzkey

Hilda Ginzkey — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:35:59 +0000

Ronald McDonald house…our hospitals here in Omaha have housing available at no charge for the family of the hospitalized. I also think St. Jude hospital has one. They are perfect and this takes away one finacial burden for families. I believe they also offer meal tickets and other amenities.