For several months now, I have not been able to catch the HMO's office by phone.
So far, thank you, this is a great opening to a successful episode of The Kominski Method.
The problem is that this is the reality.
Unlike once, these attempts have become downright arduous.
Sometimes it's a wait of tens of minutes, sometimes even longer.
This is a bit strange, because in recent years I have become accustomed to efficient and improved, agile and courteous service.
Another fact that must be reported in this context is that the appointments for a meeting with the family doctor, which were a never-ending nightmare (which often raised existential dilemmas, such as whether it is not worth letting the disease do its thing as long as I do not have to wait at the doctor's room and watch Paula and Leon endlessly) - suddenly became something short and almost negligible.
I come, her door open, she's free and relaxed, I come in with a song on my lips, and even enough to sip an intelligent small talk about corona and gossip.
The thing is, you'll have to admit.
This week, out of contemplation of this contradiction, not to mention, out of a conversation I had on the matter with one of the women on the team, I suddenly understood what the matter was.
I live in Jerusalem in a neighborhood where most of the residents are elderly, elderly.
For a year and a half they have not come to the HMO - because of the closure, because of the fear, because of the insecurity.
They do not come, but they do call.
Every day.
Several times a day.
I understand them, and I love them, and I wish them would get out of this situation, and come back to normal life and come to the HMO and steal my appointment and sit for hours at the doctor and ask the same question a thousand times, and that I would sit outside for hours watching Paula and Leon, and even reruns of the cooking show My.
This week, when I visited the HMO, I saw Clara, Nava Vilna, three medical secretaries, all three sitting in a row, their phones constantly beeping, and they patiently explain endlessly to every old man and woman who avoided coming to the HMO, why and how much and where to sign and when a nurse will arrive , And maybe even when it's all over and why we deserve it.
They are the nurses, they are the doctors, they are the psychologists, they are everything.
Since the corona has come a lot of talk about medical teams and their effective functioning and the real angels of this period, and I wanted to highlight for a moment the specific link, which is not usually tended to be overseen.
The managerial angels who give the soul, and in many respects, and for many people, are the thing itself.
And I also wanted to tell you, Clara, Nava Vilna, that it's really okay that you do not answer my phone.
Continue to do sacred work and talk to Mr. Kreitenberg and Mrs. Levy.
You will be so engrossed in the conversation that you did not notice that I went in and went to the doctor, and now I am talking to her about you and your dedication.
kobiarieli@gmail.com