Indian Hospitals

Well, I just had my first experience with an Indian hospital in Siliguri. Victoria probably has appendicitis so we went to the hospital to see what they could do to ease the pain at least. As you walk up to the lit Emergency sign one might be surprised to find that the gate is locked, the lights are off, and no one is around (except 3 stray dogs...they're everywhere in India...and they're not cute). Is this hospital abandoned? Just wait. Another thing that caught my attention was the glowing green idol in an indented space (about 2 feet high and wide) in the front of the hospital as you enter. You don't see that every day in America.

Jeff banged on the gate, at which point a guard (who wasn't wearing shoes) opened the gate and turned on the lights. He called the nurses (probably to wake them up). They opened the door to a hot, dark, and what appeared to be a dirty room with 4 hospital beds close together and limited medical supplies. I was kind of relieved that all they did was check her blood pressure, temperature, and press on her stomach because the facilities were so dirty. I watched a nurse wash her hands in the corner and use a really dirty towel to dry them, then throwing it over the open window. Yeah, gross. They couldn't do anything else (blood test, ultrasound, etc) until 9:30am. Wow! So we're hoping Victoria's appendix doesn't rupture...please pray that it won't.

Only positive aspect of Indian hospitals at 2am: THERE'S NO WAIT!