RAK hospital

i've been noticing a weird rash on julian, so i decided to fire up the new insurance card and give it a whirl.

i have no idea where to find a doctor here, as it's not like dubai. in dubai, a lot of the docs are in the same area, and there are so many expats that i think there are even guides and stuff to who is where and who does what. besides that, ursula could give me some suggestions.

i decided to check into RAK hospital's outpatient offerings. after perusing the website, i saw that i could fill out an online form to request an appointment. the same day (monday), someone called me back to ask if i wanted to come in that night (too late) or today. i chose 10am today with the pediatrician called dr. manosh. 

the RAK hospital is managed by a swiss healthcare company, so the front pavilion has fake cows in the grass next to the fountains. the place is like a freaking hotel. it's all design and has section after section of fancy leather couches and sleek coffee tables. 

as per usual, the women went NUTS over julian. the nurses were popping in and out of the room where he was getting weighed, measured and temperature. all shouting, "julian!" when you register for the first time, they give you basically an ID card with a bar code. so any time we need to come back for julian, we just present the card and there's no need to fill out the mountain of idiotic paperwork again. pretty cool.

the doctor was very nice and julian was a good boy. turns out he probably had a viral infection that ends with a rash. lovely. he's not itchy or anything, so we just have to wait and make sure it doesn't get worse. 

so we have to pay for the appointment and then get reimbursed later. it was 200 dirhams (like $56). the prescription (which i'm not using unless it gets worse, which is what he told me to do) was 23 dirhams. that's like $7. makes you mad when you think about how we're getting ripped off in the states.

from there, we decided to get a cappuccino and fresh-squeezed orange juice at the cafe ritazza in the lobby. a) because i needed caffeine and b) because the sales girls were going gaga over mr. fabulous. i am escorting a mini celebrity with me everywhere i go.

so thumbs up to the swank hospital. dr. manosh was very knowledgeable, nice and gets my approval, as do the 9 billion nurses that wanted to check out julian.