Dear Sir: I am over 65 and on Medicare.

(There was) an Associated Press article that was in the Atlanta paper on Nov. 17, titled "Medicare Project to test improvements" with a sub-title of Report finds 1 in 7 patients hurt during their hospital stay."

I can’t believe that our government and the American public are not outraged when they read this article, knowing that their parents have a 1 in 7 chance of getting hurt while in a hospital.

My wife was one of those hurt in a hospital. They were moving her from one bed to another and she ended up with a big wound in her leg. All the hospital did was put band-aids on her leg.

After she got out of the hospital, we took her to a wound center and she was still under treatment for that wound when she died.

For some reason or another this hospital would call our home and ask how she was doing monthly.

I recently had kidney surgery. I give the hospital an "A," up to and until I was moved to a room, then I give it "F" for patient care.

I had an IV in my arm and the room was real cold. In this newer part of the hospital, the air vent is in the ceiling and guess where it is? Blowing down on the patient’s head, So I got someone to move the temperature gauge up to 78 degrees and that set the nurses off. They never came in and asked me if I wanted to sit in a chair. I was in a chair in the recovery room and was wheeled to my room in a chair. I lay flat on my back the rest of the day

My suggestions to Medicare follow.

That the temperature in a Medicare patient’s room should be no less than 77 degrees, unless requested otherwise by the patient.

Medicare patients should not be placed in a room that has the air vent blowing on their heads and the hospital should try to place them in a room with no vents in the ceiling.

That if possible, hospitals should have a Medicare wing or floor.

I just feel that these old folks (myself included) may be getting hurt because they are hurting, and because of the hurting, they may do stupid things to get relief from the pain. If my hands, arms and legs get cold, then they start to hurt real bad.

To close, hospitals should be required to keep the room temperature warm enough, so that the Medicare patient’s bones won’t hurt just because the blood circulation in old age slows down.