The Italian Health System — A First-Person Perspective
WHO ranked Italy as the 2nd best country in the world for overall healthcare in 2020. On paper, it looks pretty good. Here’s some reflections after living here.
As I write this, I’m frustrated. I just walked to the local health center in a downpour, carrying vials of urine samples, only to be told, quite cheerfully, I had missed the window for the collection of lab samples by ten minutes. In two days I will go back, because they’re closed on Tuesdays.
Last Friday, I didn’t have the prescription from the doctor and didn’t know about a form that was needed, so back home I went. A few days prior, at the start of this escapade, I had stopped by the pharmacy to get the collection vials. A doctor called to verify which kind they needed. Despite the emphatic si si, va bene that indeed I was getting the right kit, I was sent back because they needed a different kind.
In Italy, especially as a foreigner, these types of fruitless excursions are common. Maybe I’m getting cynical, but I fully imagine the next time I go to the health center, they will say, “Oh, these are too old. You’ll need to start over.”
