Christ's love

I have alot of problems with County Hospital in Martinez. This trip gave me more reason to be angry and annoyed with them. I picked up a man, John Wallace, about 70 years old with an extreme speech impediment. For him to tell me anything, he had to write it down. Plus he's in a wheel chair, so at every stop, I have to get the chair out of the back of the cab, get him in it, then push him because he can't do it himself.

The nurse gave me a voucher with instructions to take him to Wells Fargo to get cash, then to a motel where he would spend the night. The voucher had the addresses of both the bank and motel. We get to the bank, which happens to be a Nob Hill grocery store and the bank is just an ATM Machine. My passenger tells me he needs a real bank because he doesn't have a debit card, but only his I.D. First thing I thought was "Thanks County Hospital, for giving me the first address you found, instead of finding out your patient's needs." Since I don't know where the next nearest bank is, I radioed dispatch and asked them to find it for me. It ended up being five blocks from the hospital instead of two miles, where the atm was. I was a little heated but there's more. After we got his money, he told me wanted to stop for some cigarettes on the way to the motel. Instead of getting him out of the cab and into his wheel chair, I went in for him and bought them. The motel ended up being across the street.

Once we got there, I learned of another thing the hospital should have done. They were apparently supposed to make arrangements for a room for him before I ever even picked him up. I talked to the lady at the front desk and she said he didn't make reservations and they do not have any rooms for disabled persons at this time. I asked the lady, "what should I do? I am a cab driver. I can't take him to my house."

I told John that they couldn't take him. He wrote down on paper that if I got him to the Amtrak station He could get to his son's house. Since this part of the trip is off the voucher it becomes his responsibility to pay for the cab. The trip there is only 5 to 6 dollars, so I did it for free.

The County Hospital Personnel only does what they are required to do so that they don't get into trouble. Patients cannot expect anything more.

By the way, this voucher was only worth 10 dollars and pick up to drop off took an hour and a half. Whenever I pick up someone that needs more maintenance than most and takes longer and causes more difficulty, I think to myself "what if this person had gotten a different driver?" Would they treat them the same? I feel that these calls are given to me for a reason. That when I get someone who needs special attention, I must show them Christ's love as best I can.

“And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:19