As a responsible and caring head of a household, there are
certain details about a city and state that are particularly important to
consider before moving to settle there.
These details can be broken down in to several categories, such as the
overall environment of the area, which takes into account the general lifestyle
and people in the area, the weather and type of climate. Entertainment is
another important category which is concerned with the proximity of outdoor
activities as parks, mountains, rivers, and beaches as well as the local
culture, festivals available and, for those young enough, a vibrant night
life. The neighborhood itself should
also be carefully considered with an eye towards the type of housing available,
and their proximity to things like grocery stores or restaurants. But above
all, the biggest concerns about a new place to live should be around the basic
public services and facilities like schools, libraries, and available medical
services within the community. These
services and facilities are essential for ensuring a certain quality of life.
Let me share my story about how I considered all these
factors and why I chose to relocate my family to Pennsylvania in order to enjoy
my retirement years. For those who know
me, the choice of Pennsylvania may have come as a bit of a surprise. My family
is traditionally from the South and I have quite a few medical issues that will
require regular medical check-ups for the rest of my life. Though my ailments are fortunately not
serious ones like cancer or memory loss, I am a diabetic and suffer from high
blood pressure. In view of my advanced
age, my doctors have recommended that I receive frequent and regular check-up sand
stay on medication. And because of these
ailments I have to constantly measure my blood sugar as well as blood pressure
and keep detailed records of these measurements. The small town I’m from offered only limited
medical resources to help take care of my conditions. For my minor ailments, the choice was either the
emergency room, or the one primary care doctor in town. The emergency room constantly had extremely long waits, just to be taken back to a room and wait even longer. I can understand that other, more serious
issues were treated first, but my entire day would be wasted waiting on my
treatment. The primary care doctor in
town was wonderful and knew my history, but as the only doctor in town, he had
a long list of patients, and getting a same or next day appointment for those
times when my issues flared up was out of the question.
I think by now you might have guessed one of the major
reasons why I opted to relocate to Pennsylvania for my post retirement
life. In addition to offering a
fantastic mix of outdoor activities and modern city life, Pennsylvania is also
known to have a number of excellent healthcare resources for older
Pennsylvanians with facilities like modern urgent care clinics in almost every
city and borough throughout the state. When researching the medical resources
available in places to live, I came across the urgent care concept and
immediately knew that it could help me with my issues. Rather than having to wait several days for
an appointment with a primary care doctor, or spend all day waiting in an
emergency room, urgent care centers offer walk-in appointments for urgent, but
non-life-threatening issues. The doctors
typically have experience in an emergency room, which means they’re well
trained to take care of almost any urgent issue and the caring, courteous staff
that I’ve encountered make for a much friendlier environment than a sterile
ER. Never once have I felt that the
level of care I received wasn’t of the highest standards. Making sure there are appropriate medical
facilities during my travels is also important to me and I even had the
occasion to visit a walk-in clinic in Gettysburg when I went to view the site
of the Civil War battle.
This is not to say that there aren’t a full set of medical
services available in Pennsylvania.
There are plenty of emergency rooms available but they are no different
from others I have visited. They are literally packed with people who are
suffering from major and serious problems and you must endure the typical piles
of paperwork just to have a 5 minute visit with a doctor. Pennsylvania also has
significantly more medical specialists than my hometown, so I feel comfortable
knowing that if I develop any further serious medical issues as I age that I will
be able to find treatment. However, for
the moment, knowing that an urgent care center is available to provide quick
treatment whenever needed is quite comforting.
And while receiving quality medical care was the primary factor in my
decision to move, other people will love the history of the state, the
beautiful scenery and all the outdoor activities. For all of these reasons, I have greatly
enjoyed living here in Pennsylvania.
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