HOSPITALS AND HEALTH CARE
When I was about 10 years old and living on our farm in rural northeastern Pennsylvania, I had appendicitis. It was in the middle of the night, and we were 20 miles from the nearest hospital. My folks contacted a neighboring nurse, and I was taken to the Nanticoke General hospital. However, and unfortunately, the appendix burst and I needed immediate surgery. I spent the next two weeks in the hospital with two drainage tubes in my side to clear up the mess. For several months afterward, I visited a local doctor every week to clear away the overgrowth of “proud flesh,” the healing tissue that was above the edges of the wound and blocked normal skin tissue growth.
It was several months before I could resume life and run and play. I still have scars from where the tubes were (my wife said I had three “belly buttons”} that prove my hospital ordeal. What would have happened without a hospital and medical staff?
Living in Papua New Guinea in remote areas has made me realize how fortunate Americans are been with their medical facilities. Yes, we pay a lot, but we receive an abundance of care, especially when it comes to hospitals and health care providers.
There are about 6,120 hospitals in the United States and 773 of them are in Texas. That is a lot of beds, doctors, nurses and attendants who are working every day to maintain our health system.
On the other hand, in Papua New Guinea, there was usually only health clinics in each administrative district, and few hospitals. Kirk was born in a “bush” hospital operated by (no pun intended) the Lutheran mission in the Madang Province, and Karol was born in a government hospital in Lae, Morobe District.
In the rural areas, there were small government clinics, but no facilities for women in labor or for surgical operations. We had Kewa friends die because they could not get to hospitals or even clinics. There was no road transport, in fact at the time there were no roads in the areas where we worked.
Occasionally, a “medical patrol” would come through the area. The government patrol officer and assistants would set up a tent and treat people. One of the assistants took care of pulling teeth. On one occasion, he asked me to help by interpreting, so I relayed the message of a man’s toothache, and the assistant promptly pulled a tooth. One problem—it was the wrong one, a “green” (new or fresh) one, and the man was very upset. The assistant compensated by giving the man a new bush knife and all was forgiven.
When Joice was pregnant with Kirk, we relied on any medical person we could find to examine her and give us advice. I would not recommend to missionary couples, but God led us and gave us mercy.
Joice’s life was saved at the small Goroka hospital when she had an ectopic pregnancy. And, in 1973, when we were on furlough and Joice needed surgery, we were only a few miles from a modern hospital with well qualified staff. She had wonderful care and it reminded us of how fortunate we were compared to our PNG friends.
Our intimate relationship with a hospital came in 2012, when Joice was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that needed special care and attention. This time we moved to Houston for over 6 weeks while she was treated with proton radiation at the MD Anderson hospital complex. We continued the treatment regularly for the next 5 years until she was declared cancer-free.
There are also approximately 4,661 general medical clinics in Texas and in Waco there are dozens. For example, the Waco Family Medicine operates multiple primary care locations across the area. They help, in particular, lower income and Spanish speaking residents.
Baylor Scott & White Medical Center operate a main hospital campus as well as a network of satellite and specialty clinics throughout McLennan County. We are indeed blessed to have such care and should support the work as best we can.
There are problems, however. “In 2024, U.S. national health expenditures reached $15,474 per person (totaling $5.3 trillion or 18% of GDP), according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).” It follows that millions of Americans cannot afford health care. There are more grim statistics: “In 2022, the top 5% of people with the highest health spending accounted for half of total health spending and had an average of $67,300 in health expenditures annually; […]. At the other end of the spectrum, the 50% of the population with total health spending below or equal to the 50th percentile accounted for only 3% of all health spending; the average spending for this group was $374.”
Here are a few other facts to ponder (from National health expenditure data on cms.gov):
Medicare spending grew 7.8% to $1,118.0 billion in 2024, or 21 percent of total NHE.
Medicaid spending grew 6.6% to $931.7 billion in 2024, or 18 percent of total NHE.
Physician and clinical services expenditures grew 8.1% to $1,109.7 billion in 2024, faster growth than the 7.4% in 2023
As our population ages, the health care and supplementary costs will continue to escalate. Christians will need to be as generous as possible to help those who cannot help themselves.
Karl Franklin
