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inaccessible doctors' office
Nov. 29th, 2011 11:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
adrian_turtleI've come to expect doctors' offices to be accessible. I know it used to be less common...30 years ago, my pediatrician's office was hard to navigate on crutches, and the orthopedist's office looked kind of strange to me because I hadn't seen a clinic designed for people in wheelchairs to get around it. Now I can walk easily (the ankle healed fine. All my ongoing health problems are above the waist), but accessible doctors' offices just look right to me.
This morning, I went to see a new neurologist. The office is attached to a hospital in Cambridge, and it looks like a general neurology practice. There are five neurologists treating adults for epilepsy, migraine, MS, Parkinson's, and stroke. (Possibly other problems, too.) There's a twisty narrow path from the waiting room to the desk for doing paperwork--it might be barely possible to get through it with a cane, if a person is reasonably coordinated and not too bulky (because of body size or winter clothing.) There is another narrow path with sharp corners from the paperwork desk to the exam and consultation rooms. I don't see how a person could manage it in a wheelchair, and it doesn't make sense. Neurologists are supposed to treat people who can't walk. They're even supposed to treat conditions that interfere with walking!
I'm going back. The doctor said she might be able to fix my chronic daily headache. Possibly even reduce my ongoing shoulder pain. Abstract justice can't compete with that. But I don't like it.
This morning, I went to see a new neurologist. The office is attached to a hospital in Cambridge, and it looks like a general neurology practice. There are five neurologists treating adults for epilepsy, migraine, MS, Parkinson's, and stroke. (Possibly other problems, too.) There's a twisty narrow path from the waiting room to the desk for doing paperwork--it might be barely possible to get through it with a cane, if a person is reasonably coordinated and not too bulky (because of body size or winter clothing.) There is another narrow path with sharp corners from the paperwork desk to the exam and consultation rooms. I don't see how a person could manage it in a wheelchair, and it doesn't make sense. Neurologists are supposed to treat people who can't walk. They're even supposed to treat conditions that interfere with walking!
I'm going back. The doctor said she might be able to fix my chronic daily headache. Possibly even reduce my ongoing shoulder pain. Abstract justice can't compete with that. But I don't like it.
