Humanizing the patient.
On a dark Friday night, the evening rush-hour cars splash through the cold rain to their warm homes. Yet, the Phoenix Rising team starts the night’s frigid work. Loading coats, hats, and food into an anonymous church van, the team splashes its way into the forgotten corners of the city.
The first stop, a No Tell Motel. Drab, dingy, dark, and forbidding; yet, keeping its inhabitants off the streets. The team knocks on doors to offer food, toiletries, and blankets. No answer. No answer. An answer. The door creeks open revealing piercing eyes that recognize the familiar faces of Angela, Jil , Laurie, Sebastian, and Elsa of Phoenix Rising. The eyes stop, widening at a stranger wearing a stethoscope, white coat, and MedStreet emblem. His eyes shoot back to the familiar faces.
Angela reassures, “Yes, we have a doctor with us this time. Do you need any help?”
Pause. Then, “No.”
Then, “Well, yes.”
I enter his world. The night begins.