Our Night at the Jordan Hospital

Our second night here (last Monday), we had an unexpected trip to the emergency room at Jordan Hospital. Paul (my husband) had been having some chest pain and shortness of breath, and it got much worse on Monday afternoon. So we decided to go to the ER.

They very quickly concluded that Paul hadn't had a heart attack by doing an EKG, a chest X-ray, and a complete blood work-up. I mean, they had completed all these tests and he had been seen multiple times by the doctor within 45 minutes of our walking in the door! That's quick service for an ER.

But his blood pressure was extremely high, so they ended up admitting him to the CCU for further tests and observation and to get the blood pressure down. The next morning they did a coronary catheterization, the results of which were normal. So, health crisis averted!

But, we were going to have to pay for all this!

We have insurance, but it is through a U.S. insurer, so we have to pay all the bills up front and then submit them for reimbursement. When they told me I would have to pay the entire bill, I asked "right now?" And, they said "no, tomorrow morning will be fine." (Ha! I meant "can I pay in a few weeks,"--"over time" as we say in the US--but I didn't elaborate.) So, I got a little bit worried about not having enough cash to cover a night in the CCU, including medicine, plus a coronary catheterization procedure, on top of the EKG, chest X-ray, and complete blood work-up that had already been done. But, it turned out that the bill was only 700 JD, which is about $1000. I think it costs more than that to walk into a hospital in the United States! In fact, this was cheaper than the $1400 vet bill we had to pay when our dog spent one night in the animal ER after eating chocolate.

So, I was able to "bail" Paul out of the hospital the next day with a credit card.

The hospital was well equipped. We felt very comfortable with the treatment Paul got, and we were very pleasantly surprised that the cost was so reasonable. His cardiologist was Johns-Hopkins trained in the US and American Board Certified, and all the residents were excellent in both their medical and English skills. Everyone was extremely nice to us even though we are non-Arabic speaking, "uninsured" (from the hospital's perspective) foreigners. The moral of the story is that everything was done quickly, efficiently, and at a very reasonable cost.

Moreover, my new colleagues at the ABA were a huge help to us--several of them stopped by to visit him, make sure he was being well cared for by the best doctors, and that we were not being overcharged. Although it is stressful to have to take your husband to the ER on your second day in a foreign country (and, of course, it's stressful for the husband to be taken to the ER under these circumstances), the whole experience was made much easier by the support and kindness of our new friends at the ABA.