As I sat outside the Director's office in the public hospital of Nagua with a student, we were joined by a man holding some papers and an IV. He began a conversation asking me where we were from and why we were at the hospital, and then he began to tell me about his situation.
This man was living with a severe ulcer of his stomach; he would need an operation to repair his stomach that would need to be performed in San Francisco de Macoris, the regional hospital about an hour away from Nagua. He, like many others in the area, is without insurance and would need to pay 600 RD (pesos) for the operation, which is the equivalent of $13.50. He had 300 RD but was short the other half.
There was no question that I was going to give this man the money he needed to get the surgery he needed to feel better. After confirming with the doctor around the corner that he had everything in place to be referred to Macoris for surgery, the student and I happily handed the man the 300 RD he needed for treatment. Almost breaking into tears, the man was touched by our kindness and beyond grateful. I struggled to not break into tears myself.
Such a small act of generosity for me made a life-changing impact on this man. I never thought I would have an opportunity like this, but I realized this, unfortunately, wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Although the cost of healthcare seems incredibly affordable in the Dominican Republic, outside of the free services provided in public hospitals, many medications and treatments are out of reach for the many uninsured.
This same operation in the United States would cost one somewhere in the range of $10,000 - roughly 740 times more than what it would in the Dominican Republic. Although one can argue there is a difference in the quality of care with differing technology and equipment, the cost still seems unreasonably high to me. The United States has the world's most expensive healthcare system, yet one of the most ineffective. There is much room for improvement, and one of the highest priorities should be on reducing the cost so that healthcare is accessible by everyone. Health should be a human right.
This man was living with a severe ulcer of his stomach; he would need an operation to repair his stomach that would need to be performed in San Francisco de Macoris, the regional hospital about an hour away from Nagua. He, like many others in the area, is without insurance and would need to pay 600 RD (pesos) for the operation, which is the equivalent of $13.50. He had 300 RD but was short the other half.
There was no question that I was going to give this man the money he needed to get the surgery he needed to feel better. After confirming with the doctor around the corner that he had everything in place to be referred to Macoris for surgery, the student and I happily handed the man the 300 RD he needed for treatment. Almost breaking into tears, the man was touched by our kindness and beyond grateful. I struggled to not break into tears myself.
Such a small act of generosity for me made a life-changing impact on this man. I never thought I would have an opportunity like this, but I realized this, unfortunately, wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Although the cost of healthcare seems incredibly affordable in the Dominican Republic, outside of the free services provided in public hospitals, many medications and treatments are out of reach for the many uninsured.
This same operation in the United States would cost one somewhere in the range of $10,000 - roughly 740 times more than what it would in the Dominican Republic. Although one can argue there is a difference in the quality of care with differing technology and equipment, the cost still seems unreasonably high to me. The United States has the world's most expensive healthcare system, yet one of the most ineffective. There is much room for improvement, and one of the highest priorities should be on reducing the cost so that healthcare is accessible by everyone. Health should be a human right.