Your money or your dad

It was my 6-year-old who played a message on my phone last Saturday morning that said my father was in critical condition and that I should get to the hospital immediately.

I took a flight the same day for South America where my father was. When I arrived in Quito, it was nighttime. Family friends who admitted my father to hospital greeted me outside the emergency department.  A security guard let us go up to see the doctor.  The hospital looked closed. Everything was dark, the front doors were shut, with chairs blocking the entrance.  

It was strange to see a hospital closed at 8:30 pm.

The doctor said my dad’s prognosis wasn’t good.  He was intubated and on life-support.  I went to see him. I was surprised how good he looked. He’s 84 but has no wrinkles and a full head of hair. He looked peacefully asleep. He was heavily sedated. I was relieved to have reached him on time to see him, still alive.

Just after getting out of the hospital, my father’s friends presented me with the bill for the hospital: $2800 to admit him. Cost of the ICU would be $2200 per day.

I was shocked. How was I going to pay for his life-saving treatment?

In Ecuador, there is no universal public health care system like in Canada. There is a two-tier health care system. People pay for private or public health care plans, if they can afford it.  

My dad had neither.  Everything would be coming out of pocket.

A couple of days later in the hospital, a woman in a white nurse’s uniform followed me through the hallway where I was walking, lost in worry. She interrupted me in a very hush tone, asking if I could speak to the financial department.  Another lady came to see me and presented me with the costs up to date. $9000 for treatment so far and if I could pay part of this bill, please.

As a Canadian, I felt angry. Cash for the life of my father. I felt outraged, not only for my father, but for all families that are going through this.

As I write this, my father is still in the ICU. And our costs are now over $20,000 CDN.

Where there is private health care, a life is always calculated in dollars and cents, whether you can afford it or not.