certainly, the pandemic was primetime for these kinds of affecting stories — nothing like an unknown virus slowly creeping across the globe to drum up reader interest. throw in hundreds of long-term care deaths because of neglect and mismanagement, cancelled surgeries and locked-down doctors’ offices, and the story of carnage was impossible to look away from. of course, with the exception of covid, all of this wasn’t anything new — people had always been dying in ltc homes because of poor care, surgeries were already backlogged and it had been getting increasingly difficult to connect with a family doctor for years. still, these stories were told during covid as if the system was only just descending into chaos and mayhem, as if the inability to treat, care for and empathize with those who needed it most just suddenly came out of nowhere, a surprise that no one could have predicted.
back then, we were asking “so what?” mostly because we were in crisis and scared, and policymakers were doing their best to both explain what the pandemic and a faltering healthcare system meant and surmise solutions, because, well, they had to.
of course, if you were already in the system, you weren’t surprised that everything was crumbling officially and in a very public way. patients waiting for tests, screening or a bed had known that it was only a matter of time that everything collapsed, just as the people who cared for them did. healthcare workers who squeezed their way down hallways lined with people in beds also knew. long-term care home administrators with their growing waitlists, dirty diapers and decreasing budgets were also all too well aware. policymakers and politicians knew too — how could they have not?
back then, the “so what?” hinged upon needing more money and resources in order to thwart a complete system collapse. the experts said that the one good thing to come out of the pandemic and its collateral damage would be that we’d be better prepared for the next time. we’re not. even worse, we have stopped asking “so what?” and that’s not good for anyone. skim any 世界杯决赛2022 story today, yesterday, last week or tomorrow and you’ll read about overflowing emergency rooms, healthcare worker burnout and doctor shortages, and the best shot at any sort of “so what?” is a limp tap on the shoulders of governments to step up and do something. anything. even the
associations tasked with supporting those on the frontlines
seem unable to push any harder than numbly urge the government to “prioritize.”