Hospital Craziness

I was happy to hear that my Mamacita was in the new hospital in Aguadulce. I didn't know how new it was but the fact that it was new sounded good to me. I was shocked to see this sign outside of the hospital.

(Responsible Parents Don't Bring Healthy Kids to the Hospital) I just kind of laughed it off as a silly Panamanian superstition. I was indeed going to bring Sabina in to see Mamacita because it would be her last chance to see her, ever. I didn't bring her at first though because I wanted to check the scene out first and then prep her for it.

Well... I am SO glad that I didn't bring her with me...that sign was no joke! The hospital sucked! The patients have to supply their own items such as toilet paper, wipes, sheets, pillows etc. The place wasn't necessarily dirty but it didn't seem totally clean either. I couldn't put my finger on what was missing until I had to help change Mamacita. After I assisted the nurse in changing Mamacita I did what any American germophobe would do and I went straight to the bathroom to wash with soap and water. Guess what? NO FLIPPING SOAP! When I say no soap, I mean NO SOAP IN ANY BATHROOM! I went nuts. I asked the nurses for soap and they said that you have to bring your own soap. WHAT? This was a HOSPITAL? I asked the nurse if I could use some of her soap and guess what - she had none! I was about to explode! How do they keep things clean etc? I then noticed that all over the hospital were old diswashing liquid bottles that had the labels scratched off and had the words AlCOL written on the front of them. I of course had my handy dandy bottle of Purell in my purse so I was able to take care of myself but I just couldn't understand what was going on in the hospital. One of the nurses took pity on me and decided to fill me in on the no soap policy. Apparently there once was soap in the hospital. However, the soap dispensers kept getting vandalized or stolen so they were not replaced.

Hmm...