Almost A Family. Roxanne Rustand

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СКАЧАТЬ oppressive weight settled into Erin’s chest as she studied the grim faces across the table. “Tell me.”

      Grace fiddled with a pencil. “Ten years back, the neighboring town had a hospital like this one—both of them struggling, both competing for patients. Neither was big enough for a full-time physician on staff, so the doctors all rotated through scheduled times to be there—just like we handle things here now. Everyone wanted something better for their own community.”

      “Our old administrator—the guy before George—made big promises,” Madge added. “Talked about a new lab and radiology unit, and state-of-the-art equipment. Said he was going to have a beautiful new medical clinic built next door, and talked some of the doctors into investing heavily.”

      “He said he had big grants coming, too,” she scoffed. “He spent thousands and thousands of dollars on feasibility studies and planning, and even contracted some expensive remodeling projects. Most of it fell through, leaving the hospital in debt.”

      “Everyone must have been upset,” Erin murmured.

      “More than that. When the other hospital folded, those doctors didn’t transfer their patients here. Instead, they started referring clear over to Henderson Regional, and even some of our own doctors jumped ship. Henderson is more than fifty miles away, so our town lost trade, as well. There’s still a lot of hostility over it.”

      “And George—how did he handle the situation?”

      Madge’s expression softened. “He did his best. He and his wife were wonderful assets to this community.”

      “He didn’t handle it,” Grace said shortly. “Not well. George was good with the staff. He was honest and caring. But he didn’t like controversy and preferred smoothing ruffled feathers to taking an assertive stance.”

      Erin stifled a sigh. “So you don’t think it’s possible to lure specialists here.”

      “You know what it’s like at state nursing or medical conventions. People talk, word spreads. I’d say it would take a miracle.”

      Erin shuffled through her papers, withdrew a summary of the financial status of the hospital that had been presented to the board last year, and pushed it across the table. “I know you’ve both seen this before, but this is the past. The future has to bring change, or we’re looking at significant layoffs within the next six months.”

      Madge stiffened. “George never—”

      “The hospital has been running at eight full-time equivalents per occupied bed.” At the look of confusion in the woman’s eyes, Erin added, “That’s like saying we have eight full-time employees per patient, when you add full- and part-time staff. That’s almost twice what the ratio should be, and we also have a high number of empty beds.”

      “But the patient care we give is excellent!”

      “Maybe so, but that level of revenue per employee just isn’t feasible if we’re to operate in the black,” Erin said firmly. “Still, if we can offer more services, build our market share and reduce staffing through attrition rather than layoffs, I know we can turn this place around.”

      At the word layoffs, Madge blanched.

      “I need support—from the doctors, the community and especially the staff. Anyone not willing to change will need to think about whether or not they still belong here.”

      After a long pause, Grace’s eyes twinkled. “I do believe you can do it.” She gave Madge a nudge. “Right?”

      Madge swallowed hard. “I need my job. So do my niece and my brother-in-law, and all the other people who work here. I…guess we’ll have to do what it takes.”

      Erin stood and shook Grace’s hand, then Madge’s. She watched pensively as they left her office.

      It was a lukewarm response, but it was a start.

      CHAPTER FOUR

      BY THE TIME SHE GOT the kids ready for school and dropped them off at George Washington Elementary, Erin was ready for a strong cup of coffee and a few minutes’ peace.

      Lily had burst into tears over a missing homework assignment. Tyler hadn’t been able to find his shoes or his baseball mitt. And Drew had announced that his teacher was dumb, school was a waste of time and he wasn’t going back.

      Not for the first time, she thought grimly about her ex-husband, who’d chosen to cavort with some pretty thing half his age rather than face the responsibilities he’d chosen when he and Erin had decided to adopt.

      Single parenting was a challenge she hadn’t expected, though given the choice of being married to Sam or having these children, she knew she’d gotten the far better deal.

      At the single-story brick hospital, Erin walked through the wide front doors and greeted Beth, the receptionist, who was sitting at the desk in the lobby. Past the open double doors to the left, the west wing housed a nurses’ station, thirty long-term care beds and five beds designated for skilled care. The recreation and dining rooms were at the far end.

      She waved to several patients in wheelchairs who were out in the hall, then continued straight ahead to the north wing, which housed her office, the other administrative areas, the main pharmacy and several infrequently used surgical suites.

      From the first moment she’d stepped inside, she’d loved this place, with its big, old-fashioned windows and small-town atmosphere. It was a microcosm of a big city hospital, really—offering many of the same services, but on a much smaller scale.

      At the sound of a shrill alarm, she spun around and hurried through the lobby to the east-wing nurses’ station, which served the single, long corridor of hospital in-patient rooms. A few patients peered into the empty hallway from their doorways, then disappeared. At the end of the corridor, the double doors into the emergency department remained closed.

      Surprised, Erin watched the lone nurse at the east desk reach across a stack of patient charts and flip a button to silence the alarm, then pick up a phone and dial a number.

      “I think Frieda is dusting again,” she whispered to Erin, her hand over the receiver. “This happens every Tuesday, the day she cleans her—” She suddenly held up a hand and talked into the phone. “Frieda, this is Marcia at the hospital. Are you all right?” The nurse rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. Just don’t worry about it, okay?”

      After another few minutes of conversation, Marcia cradled the receiver and grinned up at Erin. “There’s a base receiver in her living room, and she carries an emergency alarm on a cord around her neck. I’m not sure if she really worries that much about the dust or if it’s an excuse to talk to us, but she sets off that alarm every Tuesday morning, and almost at the same time. If we ever didn’t hear from her, we’d worry.”

      “Sounds like you know her well.”

      Marcia smiled. “In this town, we know everyone well. Frieda’s ninety-six, still does her own housework and she’s sharp as a tack. We should all be so lucky.”

      Erin glanced at the chart rack along the back of the station. This morning, eight of the charts bore name labels. Not many, given the number of available beds. “How is everything going down here?”

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