Day three

Day three of our Rural Health Adventure. Today was an early morning for me, I woke up at 6am to ready myself and sip on some coffee before we visited Swain County Hospital. While there I learned about the services this hospital offers which is a pain clinic, acute care, physicians offices, imaging, and they offered swing beds for individuals who needed extra care but did not want to go to a nursing home to get this care. I heard multiple times from different staff that the main problem they have at this hospital is resources, individuals in the community can’t receive specialized care at this facility. Individuals who need specialized care have to be diverted to bigger hospitals in the area. There is a workforce shortage at this hospital. One of the staff members spoke about how if one member of the team calls off it can cripple the staffing for the night.  Overall, I had fun touring the hospital, I was surprised at how much room this facility has and how well it operates with the little resources they are given.

After our hospital tour we stopped at the Cherokee museum to learn all about the Cherokee history. When I think of Indians, I think of tee pee. Honestly, I’m surprised that these individuals lived in log cabins. I was so surprised to learn about the history of Andrew Jackson with the Cherokee Indians. They fought together in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and it was an Indian named Junaluska who saved Andrew Jackson life, only for Andrew Jackson to drive these individuals away from their homes.

The icing on the cake today was tubing. It was a relaxing time with a few bumpy spots but it made it even more interesting. Most of the group swung on the rope and I completely failed when I did, but at least I tried. I ended the day with a juicy hamburger, chips, and a salad. I then face timed my grandma and she was sure to remind me to try to stay away from the mosquitoes because that’s an easy task to do here.