The Brownsville factor.

February 14, Brownsville.

Not in Dallas, not in Ft. Myers, not even in southern California do we get the quality of health care we get in Brownsville, out here on the frontera.
I don't know what it is about Brownsville, but it has an extensive, first-rate health network, of which the Clinica Santa Maria I went to yesterday morning for an annual OB-GYN exam and my first mammogram is a prime example. The staff went out of their way to lessen the financial burden of the visit (Dr. Amanda Tyler, the OB-GYN I saw, simply did not charge me the visit,) but most of all they listened, they were friendly, attentive, a rare find in today's overburdened health care world. When we were here with Circus Chimera we went to the Brownsville Community Health Center for Dylan's shots and visits; this morning we took the boys to a pediatrician. At both places, again, we got above-average care delivered with genuine warmth and concern.
This means a mammogram that doesn't feel like an invasive, painful ordeal, two kids that giggle on the way out of the doctor's office, a sense of safety and well-being both unexpected and oh-so welcome. Unfortunately this was sorely missing in Florida, just as it is in so many other places in this country.