A hospital set within any community surely must represent the busiest area possible where people must, of necessity, congregate. It's not the most convivial of places, but one we cannot avoid under certain circumstances. There is inevitably a preponderance of older, and certainly elderly people who hobble through the main gates of hospitals with their various clinics, but there are those who should, judging by their age, be hale and hearty. Ill health and medical emergencies know no age limits.

When I entered the Eye Institute for yet another scheduled post-surgery check, the waiting room for the most renowned of this city's surgical ophthalmologists was packed with people of all ages, patiently awaiting their turn, seated in an orderly fashion. No one really waits too long, despite the number of people present.

The head nurse-receptionist in attendance is skilled at preparatory procedures and wastes little time in administering eye drops to those waiting, once their hospital card has been scanned and their computerized records referred to. Shortly thereafter, ophthalmologic associate consultants, trailed by the occasional student, ushers one into an examination room, where eye-sight tests are undergone, and records further checked and added to.

Finally, the senior ophthalmologist, either the highly esteemed surgeon himself, or an associated colleague, performs the in-depth examination to determine what changes, if any, have taken place. Those findings are relayed to the patient, after being recorded in the patient's records.

If unsettling news is being communicated, there is an attempt to mollify fears. And offers of further surgery; sometimes optional, sometimes stringently advised.