Don't know much about . . .

well, frankly, I don't really know anything about universal healthcare or socialism, but I do know one thing. We just experienced, first-hand, how healthcare works in Belgium.

I still don't know much about, well frankly, I don't really know anything about healthcare in Belgium, but I can tell what I do know.

When we knew we needed a doctor, I went next door to the pharmacy. Our friend the pharmacist called her/our friend the family doctor. He said he would be at our house within an hour. That's right. He would come to our house within an hour! Our house! They do that here.

Jim began experiencing excruciating pain so I went back next door and our friend the pharmacist called the family doctor back to tell him we were going to the ER. She then offered to leave her job and drive us! Yes, just stop everything and drive us to the ER!

I told her I could do it - which was not entirely true. I can drive, but I've only driven a couple of times in the last 9 months so I'm not so good at it here. However, we made it. Thankfully no parallel parking was required.

This is one of the hospitals in Hasselt.

We can see it from our house.

And where this story takes place.

spoedopname = emergency admission

We walked in and Jim was immediately taken to a room in the ER. He described his symptoms and within ~ 5 minutes, they had taken all his vital signs, inserted an IV and were giving him pain medication! It would make your head spin they were so efficient. We were then transferred down to the x-ray area where he had an x-ray and a sonogram. Then back to the ER to wait for the results of all the tests. Within an hour, the test results were back, read by the doctor, and admission to the ziekenhuis was underway. All this and in less than 3 hours!

By 6 pm (on a Friday evening), the urologist assigned to his case was in the hospital room to explain everything. Immediately after he left, an MRI was taken and Jim was back in his room with pictures printed from the MRI in hand. Dinner was served and that was that. The doctor was back on Saturday morning at 8:30 and since the stone had passed on its own, Jim was discharged.

Although there was no procedure and we certainly didn't get the full experience of a serious hospital stay, I could not imagine things going any better. There was zero wait time. Every possible service was provided. Nothing was rationed. The facility was modern and immaculate. There was abundant staff in every area. They ALL spoke English! I don't know what more we could have asked for.

This is the urology ward.

Everything appeared new and spotless.

This is the front entry to the hospital.

And if you think a physician's handwriting is

difficult to read in English, try reading it in Dutch!

Like most everything, we have no idea what this says.

I asked several times if we needed to pay for anything up front and each time I was told "No, we will send a statement in the mail."

Our final bill is a mystery, but we asked for a private room and this was

the charge. It appears that the column on the left indicates a "2 person room" is free?

And if you've never seen a kidney stone, here's one.

See how huge it is?

Okay, so it was really tiny, but apparently it can cause some serious pain.

I'm still going with childbirth trumping the kidney stone.

And here's the best part. This is a rundown of charges for items in the room. Like free TV & internet and €1 to rent the koelkast (refrigerator) for the day. It wasn't a stocked mini-bar like in a proper hotel/hospital room, but it (the koelkast) doubled as a bedside table. How ingenious is that? I know what my next nightstand's gonna look like.

Now scan down to number 2. Eten en drinken. A bottle of water is € 21 cents and a bottle of dark beer is € 45 cents. Yes, dark beer. On the menu. At the ziekenhuis. How did they know dark beer is my favorite? Seriously, this may be our new favorite pub. You can't beat that price.

We are definitely on our way to getting the full Belgian experience.

So far so good.