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Every case is unique. And there aren't really areas where doctors aren't familiar with cancer and up to date on the latest treatments. We're a wired world nowadays, after all. There may be some oddball cancers out there where there are specialists on them.. But I don't really think there are too many areas in the US now where you can't get specific treatments. Maybe some of the larger cities get more clinical trials, but..
Sure - information is easy to access if you have a doc who cares to keep up on things...can you actually TELL if your doc is one of those or one that just gets along with what they learned back in med school?
But it also goes far beyond knowledge - in the case of surgeons you need someone who has done hundreds, if not THOUSANDS of procedures similar to yours...you don't want someone who has done only a few every year. You want EXPERTISE and not mere "competence". To do that number of procedures you need to go to a bigger city a big population and big facilities.
But it also goes far beyond knowledge - in the case of surgeons you need someone who has done hundreds, if not THOUSANDS of procedures similar to yours...you don't want someone who has done only a few every year. You want EXPERTISE and not mere "competence". To do that number of procedures you need to go to a bigger city a big population and big facilities.
That’s not true here. My spine doctor goes to Sevierville some of the time which is a small hick town tourist trap. He is the best doctor I’ve ever had, just got back from teaching some seminar in Rockefeller Center. He is 35 years old.
Torrance, CA has two fantastic hospitals Little Co. of Mary Hospital and Torrance Memorial Hospital - most of my physicians are in Torrance and Redondo Beach, CA.
UCLA Harbor is a Level 1 Trauma in Torrance. This is where Tiger Woods was brought to after his serious car accident.. It's a great teaching hospital as well.
We have great docs in the South Bay- Beach Cities. My husband retires in 4 yrs and we hate the thought of leaving due to our great doctors/hospitals. My oldest sister lives in Big Pine, CA which is near Mammoth and if they were to have any kind of heart issues they would be farmed out probably to Reno, NV. They have a plane that flies patients or a helicopter. She just shared that with me today. Bishop, has a small hospital where they would get you stabilized and then fly you elsewhere...
I do know that many doctors from our area (Orthopedic) often go to Mammoth, CA to see patients from Big Pine, Lone Pine, Bishop area.
Torrance, CA has two fantastic hospitals Little Co. of Mary Hospital and Torrance Memorial Hospital - most of my physicians are in Torrance and Redondo Beach, CA.
UCLA Harbor is a Level 1 Trauma in Torrance. This is where Tiger Woods was brought to after his serious car accident.. It's a great teaching hospital as well.
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This is my point. You don't have to go up to Los Angeles to Cedars for A++ healthcare/doctors/treatment.
I had my appendix out there and everything was excellent, though.
This is my point. You don't have to go up to Los Angeles to Cedars for A++ healthcare/doctors/treatment.
I had my appendix out there and everything was excellent, though.
Good Morning Mister 7: I agree. I have friends who travel up to Cedars, and I often wonder why? Especially when we have these wonderful hospitals/physicians right here.
Good Morning Mister 7: I agree. I have friends who travel up to Cedars, and I often wonder why? Especially when we have these wonderful hospitals/physicians right here.
Good morning to you, too!
We lived near Cedars (hubby worked in Torrance though, so we know SB) and I would have gone to any hospital down there and thought nothing of it.
It's true that hospitals in large metro areas tend to have better medical care. However, those stellar reputations may be based on research or teaching, rather than how good the care is that patients receive.
If you want to live in a more rural area, one strategy is to find a rural area with reasonable access to a large regional hospital. For example, Winchester, VA has less than 30k people, but it has a 500-bed regional hospital that serves 500k people in a three-state area. The hospital is ranked 6th in the state by US News.
It's possible to live in the middle of nowhere, but still be only 30-60 minutes away from the Winchester hospital.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I'm a 4 year cancer survivor, and had my 7 surgeries and chemo at a hospital in a small city of 39,000 population about 55 miles from my house. I did have to go to hospitals in Seattle a couple of times, and there was a big difference. In Seattle ERs you competed for care with homeless and drug addicts looking for pain killers.
Do you think that one has to go to the biggest cities for the best health care in this country?
I am curious what some of you think. I do not think that is the case.
Size counts because the higher quality medical schools are generally associated with the best hospitals.
The quality of actual 'care' is much harder to manage without the business volume of the bigger cities.
Not that exceptions don't exist ... but the one does tend to follow on from the other.
An objective measure I was once told about: Your distance to a Level One Shock-Trauma Center. LINK
Wherever you have those services you should be able to find every other medical service need too.
That volume probably also contributes to what might be the main reason healthcare seems better in big cities: quicker, more accurate diagnosis. Without that, the prognosis is worse, sometimes much worse. My personal experience (big cities vs. suburbs) and what I've read from others led me to believe that.
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