statement.
A beer vendor wended his way up the aisle. Villanueva raised a hand almost the size of a dinner plate.
“Yo, beer man. Two!”
Ty had been thinking a lot about “his kid” lately. He’d been thinking even more about Quinn McDaniel’s mother, Allison, who’d told him her son was her “everything.” The mention alone had seemed to light her up from the inside. Ty felt he owed her something, though he couldn’t say what. Also, he wondered again how she was doing and promised himself he’d find out, knowing full well the hospital’s attorney, colleagues, and common sense all argued against it.
CHAPTER 9
T
ina arrived at Harding Hooten’s office on the top floor of the hospital at the appointed hour. Hooten and the hospital’s attorney were waiting in a pair of chairs in a small sitting area in front of his desk. Not a good sign. Hooten was wearing his white lab coat and a striped bow tie. The attorney wore a generic but expensive suit. Neither one of them was smiling. The last time Tina had been to Hooten’s office was when he hired her to be an attending. There were smiles all around then.
“Tina, sit.” Hooten motioned to the couch. She sat. Hooten adjusted his bow tie and began. “I want to talk about Dr. Robidaux. I’ve been speaking with Todd about the lawsuit brought against the hospital as the result of her work. Of course, we are insured, but paying out a big judgment is never in the best interest of the hospital. I’ve had to call the CEO to let him know about this, and, as you can imagine, that was not a pleasant conversation.”
“Dr. Hooten,” Tina began. “I made the judgment that Dr. Robidaux was ready for the procedure.”
“Tina, we get in trouble when we have residents perform surgeries like this one.”
“We do it every day, Dr. Hooten. Isn’t the old saw, ‘See one, do one, teach one’?”
“You were the attending, you were clearly more qualified.”
“The attending is always more qualified.”
“But in this case—”
“This case is no different than hundreds of others at this hospital every day. If the attendings do all the cases, how are the residents going to learn?”
Hooten sighed. He was annoyed Tina had challenged him. He took a breath and started over. He adopted the voice you might use to talk a potential jumper from the ledge of building.
“Tina, you and I know patients expect the best here. And for the most part we give it to them. It’s a testament to your skills and the skills of the other doctors at this facility. You know what they say, ‘If you get shot or get in a wreck, just hope you’re near Chelsea General.’ That glib commentary carries with it more than a grain of clinical truth. We handle very challenging surgical cases with few complications.”
Hooten paused again and sighed. His hands were clasped in front of him. Tina’s jaw was set, and she sat with her weight perched on the edge of her seat, waiting to hear whether Hooten was going to throw Michelle Robidaux under the bus.
“Now, here’s this young chef who can no longer smell—”
“That side effect is something even the most experienced surgeon encounters now and then,” Tina interrupted. Her voice was more defensive, shriller, than she wanted.
“Damn it, Tina, let me finish.”
The attorney, who had been sitting with his hands folded in his lap as he thumbed his BlackBerry, looked up and spoke for the first time during the meeting. “Michelle Robidaux was not the most experienced surgeon, though, was she?”
Tina scowled at the lawyer and then turned back to Hooten.
“Tina, I’m going to get to the crux of the matter. Todd here has recommended that we terminate our contract with Michelle Robidaux, effective immediately.”
Tina flushed. She felt her stomach release a spurt of acid, and she was momentarily without words. She silently counted to ten to calm herself down. “So, this is how we back our residents. This is a teaching hospital, Dr.
A beer vendor wended his way up the aisle. Villanueva raised a hand almost the size of a dinner plate.
“Yo, beer man. Two!”
Ty had been thinking a lot about “his kid” lately. He’d been thinking even more about Quinn McDaniel’s mother, Allison, who’d told him her son was her “everything.” The mention alone had seemed to light her up from the inside. Ty felt he owed her something, though he couldn’t say what. Also, he wondered again how she was doing and promised himself he’d find out, knowing full well the hospital’s attorney, colleagues, and common sense all argued against it.
CHAPTER 9
T
ina arrived at Harding Hooten’s office on the top floor of the hospital at the appointed hour. Hooten and the hospital’s attorney were waiting in a pair of chairs in a small sitting area in front of his desk. Not a good sign. Hooten was wearing his white lab coat and a striped bow tie. The attorney wore a generic but expensive suit. Neither one of them was smiling. The last time Tina had been to Hooten’s office was when he hired her to be an attending. There were smiles all around then.
“Tina, sit.” Hooten motioned to the couch. She sat. Hooten adjusted his bow tie and began. “I want to talk about Dr. Robidaux. I’ve been speaking with Todd about the lawsuit brought against the hospital as the result of her work. Of course, we are insured, but paying out a big judgment is never in the best interest of the hospital. I’ve had to call the CEO to let him know about this, and, as you can imagine, that was not a pleasant conversation.”
“Dr. Hooten,” Tina began. “I made the judgment that Dr. Robidaux was ready for the procedure.”
“Tina, we get in trouble when we have residents perform surgeries like this one.”
“We do it every day, Dr. Hooten. Isn’t the old saw, ‘See one, do one, teach one’?”
“You were the attending, you were clearly more qualified.”
“The attending is always more qualified.”
“But in this case—”
“This case is no different than hundreds of others at this hospital every day. If the attendings do all the cases, how are the residents going to learn?”
Hooten sighed. He was annoyed Tina had challenged him. He took a breath and started over. He adopted the voice you might use to talk a potential jumper from the ledge of building.
“Tina, you and I know patients expect the best here. And for the most part we give it to them. It’s a testament to your skills and the skills of the other doctors at this facility. You know what they say, ‘If you get shot or get in a wreck, just hope you’re near Chelsea General.’ That glib commentary carries with it more than a grain of clinical truth. We handle very challenging surgical cases with few complications.”
Hooten paused again and sighed. His hands were clasped in front of him. Tina’s jaw was set, and she sat with her weight perched on the edge of her seat, waiting to hear whether Hooten was going to throw Michelle Robidaux under the bus.
“Now, here’s this young chef who can no longer smell—”
“That side effect is something even the most experienced surgeon encounters now and then,” Tina interrupted. Her voice was more defensive, shriller, than she wanted.
“Damn it, Tina, let me finish.”
The attorney, who had been sitting with his hands folded in his lap as he thumbed his BlackBerry, looked up and spoke for the first time during the meeting. “Michelle Robidaux was not the most experienced surgeon, though, was she?”
Tina scowled at the lawyer and then turned back to Hooten.
“Tina, I’m going to get to the crux of the matter. Todd here has recommended that we terminate our contract with Michelle Robidaux, effective immediately.”
Tina flushed. She felt her stomach release a spurt of acid, and she was momentarily without words. She silently counted to ten to calm herself down. “So, this is how we back our residents. This is a teaching hospital, Dr.
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