The Struggle against Bureaucracy Continues (Part 2)

I visited the Mackay Memorial Hospital on April 15th, a Wednesday, expecting only to make an appointment for my actual examination. I had not been able to reach them by phone the day before, which was why I decided to come in person. The beginning was a little rough. It took a few minutes of people-watching, for example, to assure myself that I truly should enter through the entrance that said “children’s hospital,” which seemed to be the only accessible entrance. It was guarded by perhaps a dozen workers clad in full-body plastic gear, whose sole purpose was to enter information from patients’ insurance cards or, in my case, passports and other ID forms. Standing right by the doors were two more attendants ready to spray people’s hands with disinfectant as they came in.
  
Once I was inside, it did not become immediately apparent to me where I should go and what I should do. I saw a ticket machine in front of something that looked like a general-inquiry-front-desk sort of thing, so I spent half an hour waiting to be called up only to be told that they were not in the business of scheduling appointments for physical exams, and that I should go straight to the sixteenth floor.

It took a moment to find the elevators to the sixteenth floor, but things went more than smoothly from there. I explained what I had come for, I was sat down, the lady at the desk made a few inquiries, and then immediately started preparing for the physical. In a matter of perhaps half an hour, a blood sample was taken and I had my lungs X-rayed. Thankfully, I had also brought my International Certificate of Vaccination, so many unnecessary procedures were omitted. I was told I would be notified within a week if I would have to get a vaccination.   

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