Mike Herrera, R.I.P.
Mike Herrera, of the family behind the Herrera’s restaurants, died on Saturday at the age of 58. The final 19 hours of his life were spent in the waiting room of Parkland Memorial Hospital, and yet his family holds no grudge against the hospital. From Joe Simnacher’s well-written obituary:
Of the long wait, [brother] Jimmy Herrera also said: “In a sense, it’s the price you pay for not having private insurance.”
Autopsy results should be available in a month to six weeks.
Kathy Herrera said she hopes her brother-in-law’s death underscores the need for change at Parkland.
“They need to do something, they need to change their system,” she said. “If they had seen him sooner, this wouldn’t have happened to him. At least he would have had a chance.
“I’d like it to come out so that it doesn’t happen to someone else,” Ms. Herrera said.
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Nothing like this would happen if only we had Canadian style universal health care.
Very sad. I’ve worked @ Parkland before, and it really is a mess down there. 19 hours is just insane. But, when you’ve got people from 4-5 counties (you heard me Collin County!) going down there to the ER for basic needs such as colds or to get RXs refilled, these things are (sadly enough) going to happen.
Do you need any further proof for immigration reform? A legal American citizen like Mike Herrera can’t get treatment in a hospital because it’s full of illegals who show up in the ER for all of their regular preventative care because they know they can’t be refused service. How many people were treated for the sniffles while this poor man sat around with severe abdominal distress?
It’s great that this nation can take care of its citizens in time of need. Too bad Mr. Herrera wasn’t a Wall Streeter who was in financial need.
I’m not sure who to feel sorry for…the good folks at Parkland who are doing the best they can for way too many people…or Mr. Herrera who obviously was an intelligent man who made a name for himself in the restaurant industry, but decided against purchasing health insurance.
Perhaps a few less rounds of golf would have paid that premium?
We all make choices.
When I was younger and very stupid I did not have health insurance. I didn’t know I had a kidney stone, I was freaking out about the bill before I ever saw anyone. I went to Baylor and had a three hour wait. Was not turned away for no insurance. I thought any hospital with an ER had to see you? I do not understand actually waiting 19 hours somewhere? Couldn’t at say, oh hour 5 they could have gotten in the car and gone to Baylor or Med City or Presby and tried their chances?
Surrounding counties should be forced to pay into Parkland. Freeloaders.
@SB — I think the “illegals” coming to Parkland are mostly the folks from Collin County and other counties who won’t take care of their own.
I think this is sad and I feel sorry for anyone in this situation since even those with insurance have horrible waiting stories. I think that people need to wake up though and realize it is not just “illegals” who don’t have insurance and obviously you have never worked in public health care, don’t blame colin county for the influx they are all living right here in big d, it’s just easy not to see them if you aren’t looking.
When I had my own business, I had to buy very expensive health insurance. There were other things I wanted, but common sense prevailed. How can any adult, much less someone over 50, not have health insurance? With a restaurant chain, Mr. Herrera would have enough employees to get pretty good premium rates.
I’m sorry he died, and I’m sorry he waited 19 hours for attention — but, there are other hospitals and there is health insurance.
How is this a reason to vote for the Parkland bond sale? That’s like thinking that more lanes on LBJ is going to make it less crowded.
@ dead horse – You are dead wrong. You obviously haven’t spent anytime at Parkland or looked at their statistics. I did. I worked at the not-for-profit pediatric hospital adjacent to Parkland for two years. Our demographics trended along the same lines as Parklands and I can tell you that uninsured people from Collin County (the richest county in TX) are the least of anyone’s problems.
@SB: By using your “demographic” observations (racial profiling), how can you tell the difference between an illegal and a legal resident?
No hospital can turn away any patient who cannot be stabilized, and herein lies one of many, many problems with our health care system: people use the emergency room as treatment centers, which clogs them so much that despite triage, the seriously ill cannot get treatment. So very much is wrong with our system. Insurance companies cherry pick patients (pre-existing condition? good luck getting coverage)and decrease their reimbursements to physicians — one local provider, Unicare, actually gave the docs a BLIND contract to sign recently. That’s right, the docs were to sign and Unicare would fill in the blanks later on the reimbursements for services.
A story in this morning’s Dallas News says two Texas psychiatrists are being investigated for not reporting like $10,000 or $30,000 worth of income from drug trials. We’ve got the rich boys on Wall Street walking off with $300 million in a year but we are going to beat on some docs for $30,000? The U.S. health care system is one of the heaviest-controlled industries in our country — docs cannot discuss fees or they violate anti-trust laws. The government keeps on loading them with more and more rules and requirements — Malpractice insurance, HIPPA, OSHA. We think this financial 911 is bad? Wait ’till the health care system crashes.
@Sharon Boyd – Mr Herrera did not own a restaurant chain, his family did. The article says that he sold the one store that he owned to a sister. At the time of his death he had very little money due to failed businesses.
I feel for Mike. As a contractor I get no benefits. I buy my own insurance. But the only plans I can afford cover almost nothing. The only purpose they serve is keeping previously existing conditions covered. But the medical community’s rates are based on the assumption that everyone has insurance.
@ FreeAmerica – Our demographics come from more than simply standing in the waiting room. But thanks for thinking that’s how major hospitals gather information about their patient populations.
@SB: You’ve just confirmed my suspicions about the Gestapo state we live in.
@FreeAmerica – You may need to head down to Parkland’s psych ward. Your paranoia is out of control.
If I were going to accept money to post comments on blogs, what name would I pick to do so under? FreeMilwaukee? UnfetteredPulchitrudinousLandMassBelowCanada?
Here’s the math I don’t get. We manage to insure our oldest, our sickest (the disabled) and our poorest on 2.9% of wages (up to like the first $90,000ish). The employer pays half and the employee pays half.
My mother had her knee replaced – got to pick the hospital and her doctor, and faced no “wait time” for the surgery, all paid by Medicare.
If the government told me (as a small business owner) that for 7% of all wages they could cover everyone (3.5% paid by each employer and employee), it would still be less than a private health insurance policy for both our business and our employees. And for our employees, it would be less than what they are currently paying in premium co-pays.
I’m not sure he should have taken advantage of the free health care… He could have gone to Baylor or a number of other hospitals and gotten in rather quickly and paid like everyone else… I hate that this happened though, and changes do need to be made! This story should be more reason to build a new, bigger, better Parkland!
Just the thought of my many trips to Herrera’s since the 1970s brings a smile. I am very sad about Mike – he should not have been shunted to the rear for others here with dubious intentions.
I will voting a big fat “NO” in the coming election for a new billion dollar addition to Parkland. When illegal aliens and Collin County deadbeats are turned away then I will vote “YES”.
We need to stop spending BILLIONS in Iraq and Afghanistan and start taking care of AMERICANS here at home. A National Health Care System needs to be implemented immediately in this country for basic health care needs. If we can bail out Wall Street crooks and spend our tax dollars bombing people that could care less about America and still live in the 13th century, then we sure as hell can help needy 21st century Americans. Make Health Care a national priority. Build Hospitals, recruit Doctors and Nurses from abroad.
When I worked at at local ER, I was stunned by who came in for treatment. But nothing shocked me more that the 16 year old Hindu Indian girl, dropped off by her brother in a Mercedes who presented herself with a ’stomachache’ and a Medicaid card to pay for the treatment. And the Jordanian family, who brought their father in for a ingrown toe nail and claimed indigent, but the wife was wearing Prada.
And yes, Hispanics did use the ER. And do you know why? Not because they are worthless pieces of crap like all Texans think they are, but because the restaurants they work at do not offer health insurance or because they work 2 jobs and the only time of day they have to take their sick child to the Dr is at 3am in the morning. Plus, the majority of Mexicans paid CASH immediatly after they are treated.
You want to be angry at someone? The black people were 10 times worse- Trashy, no jobs, no money, just wanting a handout and also had an air of entitlement like, ‘YOU OWE ME THIS’. Be angry at the idiotic white SMU student who came in for cramps and when asked by the doc, “Are you sexually active?” replied , No, I just sort of lay there.” Be angry at the HP husband who came in and whispered ‘I have green pus coming out of my ‘no- no hole ‘ but don’t tell my wife I have HIV’..THOSE are the people taking the time of the medical staff that should be treating REAL ER visits.
I knew Mike as a kid years before his family opened the first restaurant on Maple. I know firsthand that being self employed doesn’t mean that a person can afford health insurance and am fortunate to have benefits that prevent me from being in the same boat as he and most of the people that I know.
Mike was a friend of mine. A very fine human being that did not deserve to be treated this way. Insurance companies turn you down or cancel you if you have too many health issues. A blind person could have seen his hernia, why wasn’t an MRI taken to make sure this was not perforating? Absolutely disgusting that humans are ignored because they think they may not make moey off of them. SHAME ON YOU PARKLAND!!!
MXPX!