My fabulous weekend getaway … to a New Jersey hospital (Opinion)

Hospitals are always a tough place to be or even visit for that matter. As my parents got older it was a regular thing there for a while.

It was always depressing and tough on the soul, not only seeing your loved ones in pain, but all of the other people who probably had it much worse.

I got a taste of being a patient this weekend, thankfully only for one night.

Without going into details, I visited my local emergency room for what seemed like an urgent matter. The doctors and nurses thought it was much more urgent than I had initially thought. Luckily after a barrage of tests and an overnight stay, it was far less serious than suspected and I was sent home during the day Sunday.

The staff was amazing at Virtua in Marlton. It's a small community hospital that used to be called Garden State Community Hospital.

From the doctors to the nurses, the medical techs and transport people, they all were extremely professional and great at what they do. When I heard they wanted to admit me, I kind of freaked out and almost bolted out the door.

In my mind, things don't always go well at hospitals, and we might be too quick to put someone in who could go home. My issue was serious in nature, so they erred on the side of caution, and it turned out well.

You're allowed one visitor at a time and required to wear a mask, but other than that it didn't seem as scary as things were in hospitals just about a year ago here in New Jersey.

I had family members hospitalized with COVID and NO VISITORS were allowed. Things have gotten much better it seems, even with the media and government continuing to pump fear about new variants.

Stay out of the hospital if you can, but if you go make sure to thank the brave men and mostly women working to keep people safe and well here in our state.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy. Any opinions expressed are Dennis Malloy's own.