I haven’t had the opportunity to take a vacation in a while, so my family and I are always on the lookout for travel deals. You might say we’re hoping for that perfect combination of luxury accommodations at budget prices, not that such a thing occurs often or to us.
Imagine my surprise a couple of days ago when I heard an ad on the radio touting five-star rooms, superior amenities and excellent customer service, all at a reasonable price and all right here in Southeastern Wisconsin! Sadly, this resort is very exclusive.
It appears Aurora Health Care is building a veritable “Club Medical” in Waukesha, and felt the need to advertise it. Lush music and a dulcet woman’s voice extolled the beautiful new facilities, and I could already taste the Pina Colada. I wasn’t sure if they had a pool.
It’s no wonder that our health care costs here in SE Wisconsin are so high: it’s the resort tax.
Now, to be honest, I don’t really know whom this ad was trying to reach. Are they expecting physicians to line up, envisioning working in flip-flops and Bermuda shorts? Or are they trying to convince us that when our next serious health calamity arrives, we should be instructing the EMT to avoid our local hospital and take us on vacation instead?
I think our health care companies should be spending our insurance money on care-giving, not marketing and advertising. Maybe the cost of our care might decrease if they didn’t feel the need to build rooms as if we’re a major tourist destination, and this is high season.
Maybe in a few short months, it will be fun to get sick in Waukesha. Our politicians may be able to afford vacations like that; frankly, I can’t even afford to get sick. Everybody out of the pool, the bar is now closed.