Hospital (in)efficiency: a case study

I'll just give you a few examples. Keep in mind, this is a company with a focus on providing excellent service. They even ask each patient what their definition of 'excellence' is, so my sister's board read "excellence = a quick response to my request." Maybe she should have said "excellence = not forgetting to feed me." I was there twice when they came to collect her meal trays . . . but hadn't delivered one in the first place. (Then it took so long to get paperwork done to release her, it was past lunchtime by the time we left.) Granted, she was fairly nauseous and the food wasn't staying down well, so she passed on them bringing her anything at that point other than some saltine crackers. However, one should be able to turn down a real meal in a timely manner rather than being teased about its existence in the first place. Then as we were leaving, the aide asked if I had my parking ticket for her to validate. Validate? It would have been nice to know that ahead of time so I would have it with me rather than in the car. So, we need to add to the sign "Excellence = not assuming every out-of-state visitor knows the parking policies and/or can read minds." If there had even been any kind of sign in the garage, you can bet I would have brought it with me rather than pay $3 both yesterday and today for parking. Why do they collect money for parking anyway, if patients and visitors can have it validated? This IS the parking garage for patients and visitors. Whatever. The whole point of moving my sister to this hospital in the first place was for her surgery . . . which was cancelled after consultation with a key doctor. In brief, it's a potentially risky procedure for pregnant women. That's right, I'm going to be an aunt again!