Ah, the glory of Navy medical facilities!!
I made an appointment at the Navy Medical Center Portsmouth about 2 months ago. Their first opening was about 3 weeks away on October 10th. Ok, I'm glad this isn't a PRESSING appointment. October 6th rolled around, my grandpa passed away and I headed back to Indiana. Being the considerate person I am, I called to cancel my appointment and reschedule. "Our first available appointment is November 13th." UM, over a MONTH from now?? So, begrudgingly, I took it.
I made an appointment at the Navy Medical Center Portsmouth about 2 months ago. Their first opening was about 3 weeks away on October 10th. Ok, I'm glad this isn't a PRESSING appointment. October 6th rolled around, my grandpa passed away and I headed back to Indiana. Being the considerate person I am, I called to cancel my appointment and reschedule. "Our first available appointment is November 13th." UM, over a MONTH from now?? So, begrudgingly, I took it.
So, I got to the hospital for my appointment yesterday. It is treated as a naval base, so I had to show my ID and the base stickers on my car to get in. Then, the place is HUGE. There are many buildings, and the only direction that I had was to go to the 4th floor. 4TH FLOOR OF WHAT BUILDING? So, I park in the parking garage and walk into the hospital. I go to the 4th floor. "No, this isn't where you need to be. You need to go down to "blah-ology" on the 2nd foor," (I couldn't understand if they said Urology or Nuerology or some other -ology I have never heard of). So, I go to the 2nd floor and see Nuerology. NOPE! Go to Urology. Ok, on my 3rd attempt I finally get to the right place.
After talking to the doctor, I had to go get a "chit" for bloodwork on the 1st floor. The Navy is all about chit's. You get a chit when you take vacation time, you get a chit when you have an emergency and have to leave the ship, you get a chit when you are in port overseas... But, I did not know that you also needed a chit to get bloodwork done. Weird!
(Note: I just looked up what CHIT means.
Chit - One tradition carried on in the Navy is the use of the word "chit." It is a carry over from the days when Hindu traders used slips of paper called "citthi" for money, so they wouldn't have to carry heavy bags of gold and silver. British sailors shortened the word to chit and applied it to their mess vouchers. Its most outstanding use in the Navy today is for drawing pay and a form used for requesting leave and liberty, and special requests. But the term is currently applied to almost any piece of paper from a pass to an official letter requesting some privilege.)
I go down to the lab area on the 1st floor to get my bloodwork chit. I have to take a number and wait. My number is called. After some confusion I finally get the chit (our Navy healthcare often thinks that I am Lee's child instead of wife, BRILLIANT). Then I have to go to the pharmacy on the 2nd floor. Take ANOTHER number. Ok, my number is B835. Let's see what number they are on... OH, B767. SUPER! 5 minutes later, I realize not only are there B's, but there are also A's. So, I am not 68 people away from getting my prescription, I am more like 100 away.
An hour and 20 minutes later, I finally get my prescription filled. Almost didn't need it since I was suicidal at that point.
I finally get to leave the hospital at 5:30 after getting there at 2:45pm.
I got to see the 4th floor, the 2nd floor, another part of the 2nd floor, the first floor, and back up to the 2nd floor. Now that is efficient!
I see why the big saying around the Navy is "hurry up and wait".
