Hospitals are full; doctors and nurses have quit; hospitals advertise for new patients

Aristotle is the most relevant ancient philosopher for our age (see Coronascientists are the modern Aristotles?) and, as it happens, is credited with documenting the syllogism.

Here’s the Coronasyllogism of the Day:

  1. American hospitals are packed. People are literally dying for want of a hospital bed. (“Americans are dying because no hospital will take them” (Vox, September 14, 2021): The country’s pandemic failures have sometimes led to deadly health care rationing. … America, the richest country in the world, is not supposed to be a place where patients are left at the door to die. Yet that is exactly what’s happening now — 18 months into the pandemic.; “American Hospitals Buckle Under Delta, With I.C.U.s Filling Up” (NYT, August 17, 2021): “Outside some hospitals, officials are erecting large tents to house everyone.”
  2. Doctors and nurses have quit because it is exhausting to work in a hospital overflowing with patients. (“Covid has made it harder to be a health-care worker. Now, many are thinking of quitting” (CNBC, May 30, 2021): According to recent studies, between 20% and 30% of frontline U.S. health-care workers say they are now considering leaving the profession.)
  3. Therefore, it is critical for hospitals to invest heavily in every possible form of advertising for new patients.

If you weren’t familiar with the wisdom of the ancients, you might naively wonder “How is it that hospitals are so anxious for our business if their rooms are packed while their staff has figured out that the U.S. is a work-optional society?”

Do airports and FBOs in South Florida advertise seeking hangar tenants? No. Why not? They’re actually full. If there is a waiting list of 190 people for 300 hangars (F45, truly in the middle of nowhere), why waste money trying to get a 191st aircraft owner to sign up?

One could argue that the billboards and ad spots were purchased prior to COVID-19, but we’re approaching the second anniversary of the disease. Surely that is enough time for hospitals to turn over their ad space to “essential” (in Massachusetts) marijuana and liquor stores and other businesses for which the media hasn’t informed us of any difficulty with worker retention.

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2 thoughts on “Hospitals are full; doctors and nurses have quit; hospitals advertise for new patients

  1. I no longer think any “sense” can be made of what is happening in this country. About 1.5 hours ago, two guys driving work trucks (two brand new, > $45,000 heavy duty pickups, both with trailers and equipment on the trailers) pulled into my driveway. The guys got out, smoked a cigarette and walked away, leaving them parked here with their windows open. I didn’t recognize either of them.

    Fifteen minutes ago a third vehicle (a passenger car) pulled in next to one of the pickups, a guy got out, read a piece of paper and walked off down the road.

    I don’t know any of these people, there are no signs on the trucks indicating what or whom they belong to, and the people who were driving them have disappeared. Nobody asked me whether it was OK for them to park their vehicles here, although it was obvious someone was in the building. They just figured: “Hey, it’s my driveway too.” I’m wondering whether they’ve got a few more that are going to be pulling and parking this afternoon?

    You’re going to have a hard time figuring out why anything is happening, I’m afraid. People have just about lost their minds across the board, that’s all I can figure. Mental disorders.

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