secretary.”
The gray twins looked at her as if she were floating in a jar. Suit
was somewhere else.
Plumb kept smiling. “Yes, the ever-changing nomenclature.
Well, then my girl will call your woman. Be well, He led his entourage
away, stopped several yards down the hall, and ran his eyes up and down
a wall, as if measuring.
“What are you going to dismantle now, boys?” said Stephanie under her
breath.
Plumb resumed walking and the group disappeared around a corner.
I said, “What was that all about?”
“That was about Doctor Plumb, our new chief administrator and CEO.
PapaJones’s boy-Mr. Bottom Line.”
“M.D. administrator?”
She laughed. “What, the coat? No, he’s no doc. Just some kind of
asinine Ph.D. or something-” She stopped, colored. “Jeer, I’m
sorry.”
I had to laugh. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m really sorry, Alex. You know how I feel about psychologists-”
“Forget it.” I put my arm over her shoulder. She slipped hers around
my waist.
“My mind is going,” she said softly. “I am definitely falling
apart.”
“What’s Plumb’s degree in?”
“Business or management, something like that. He uses it to the
hilt-insists on being called Doctor, wears a white coat. Most of his
lackeys have doctorates, too-like Frick and Frack over there: Roberts
and Novak, his numbers crunchers. They all love to traipse into the
doctors’ dining room and take over a table. Show up at medical
meetings and rounds for no apparent reason, walking around staring and
measuring and taking notes. Like the way Plumb just stopped and sized
up that wall. I wouldn’t be surprised if the carpenters show up
soon.
Dividing three offices into six, turning clinical space into
administrative offices. And now he wants to confer with me-there’s
something to look forward to.”
Are you vulnerable?”
“Everyone is, but General Peds is at the bottom of the barrel.
We’ve got no fancy technology or heroics to make headlines. Most of
what we do’s outpatient, so our reimbursement level’s the lowest in the
hospital. Since Psych’s gone.” She smiled.
“Even technology doesn’t seem immune,” I said. “This morning, when I
was looking for an elevator, I went by where Nuclear Medicine used to
be and the suite had been given over to something called Community
Services.”
Another of Plumb’s coups. But don’t worry about the Nukersthey’re
okay. Moved upstairs to Two, same square footage, though patients have
trouble finding them. But some of the other divisions have had real
problems-Nephrology, Rheumatology, your buddies in Oncology. They’re
stuck in trailers across the street.
“Trailers?”
As in Winnebago.”
“Those are major divisions, Steph. Why do they put up with it?”
“No choice, Alex. They signed away their rights. They were supposed
to be housed in the old Hollywood Lutheran TowerWestern Peds bought it
a couple of years ago, after Lutheran had to divest because of their
budget problems. The board promised to build fantastic suites for
anyone who moved over there. Construction was supposed to start last
year. The divisions that agreed were moved to the trailers and their
old space was given to someone else. Then they discovered-Plumb
discovered-that even though enough money had been raised to make a down
payment on the tower and do some of the remodeling, insufficient funds
had been allocated to do the rest and to maintain it. Trifling matter
of thirteen million dollars. Try raising that in this climate-heroes
are already in short supply because we’ve got a charity hospital image
and no one wants their name on a bunch of doctors’ offices.”
“Trailers,” I said. “Melendez-Lynch must be overjoyed.”
“Melendez-Lynch went adios, last year.”
“You’re kidding. Raoul lived here.”
“Not anymore. Miami. Some hospital offered him chief of staff, and he
took it. I hear he’s getting triple the salary and half the
headaches.”
“It has been a long time,” I said. “Raoul had all those research
grants. How’d they let him get away?”
“Research doesn’t matter to these people, Alex. They don’t want to pay
the overhead. It’s a whole new game.” She let her arm fall from my
waist. We began walking.
“Who’s the other guy?” I said. “Mr. Gray Suit.”
“Oh, him.” She looked unnerved. “That’s HuenengarthPesl~
Huenengarth.
Head of security.”