a deep voice boomed from the rear of the room. “Come on back—we’re right here!”
All conversation ceased. All eyes turned to the entryway. Feeling like a burglar caught in the act, Connor stopped and looked over his shoulder. Arnold Olson, a local family-practice GP, waved vigorously from an arched doorway at the far end of the diner. Behind him, Connor glimpsed the edge of a booth set apart from the others.
Wishing he’d moved to the door a little faster, Connor made his way through the crowded room, nodding to the tables full of people welcoming him every step of the way.
“Hey, Doc—I seen your picture in the paper,” called one beaming, white-haired old gent in overalls and a red flannel shirt. “Mighty glad to have you here while Hadley’s gone!”
Clapping him on the shoulder, Connor sidestepped between the last set of tables and a waitress laden with an armload of overflowing plates.
“Good to see you again,” murmured Leland Anderson, a thin, fastidious GP from nearby Portville. He sat in the booth next to Arnold, whose belly barely fit behind the table.
Dr. Jill Edwards, a brunette with her hair caught in a classy twist, glanced up at Connor as she started to slide out of the booth. “Hi, Connor. If you’re joining everyone here, you can have my place. I need to meet my husband.”
“Hold on, you can’t go yet. We won’t have a quorum,” Arnold snorted. He waved impatiently at Connor. “Come on, pull up a chair. Your opinion is important, too.”
Connor grabbed an empty chair from a table in the main dining area and brought it to the back booth. Only then did he notice Erin in the corner, her short, dark hair gleaming in the dim light and her delicate features nearly hidden in the shadows as she studied the documents on the table in front of her.
He caught unexpected surprise—and wariness—in her eyes when she finally looked up at him.
“Connor. How…nice of you to join us.”
Wariness? Where the hell did that come from? Then again, she’d been distantly related to Stephanie and would have known her parents. He could well imagine what Regina and Victor would have said about him to anyone who would listen.
Erin glanced at her watch, then picked up the stack of papers in front of her and tapped them into a neat pile. “We were just talking about the needs of the staff and patients at the hospital.”
“And possible ways to improve its financial outlook,” Jill added. “With exponentially rising costs and decreasing revenue, the board has some grim projections for the future.”
“You mentioned an MRI unit,” Erin said, lifting a cool gaze to meet Connor’s. “And a dialysis program.”
“That’s impossible,” Arnold blustered. “We don’t have the facility, we don’t have the patient base. And we sure as hell don’t have the money.”
“Most things are possible,” Erin countered. “It just depends on the level of community support, and how hard people are willing to work for it to happen.”
“Equipment costs are astronomical,” Leland pointed out, wiping his fingertips on a napkin. “You’d need additional trained staff, yet I hear you’re already looking at cutting hours.”
“I am,” she said slowly, “looking at every conceivable way to operate the hospital with greater efficiency, in ways that will ensure the viability of this facility—and this community—in years to come. When I’m fully prepared, I’ll present my findings and my recommendations to the board. That’s why I want to involve all of you. As physicians with hospital privileges, you’ve seen what works and what doesn’t, and know what you need to practice medicine most efficiently.”
Mollified, Leland leaned back. “Then you must know that in the past grand ideas have proven to be great mistakes. Very great.”
Connor fought a smile as he listened to Erin calmly meet one question after another. He was strangely proud of her fast, intelligent responses and her patience with even the most pointed of Leland’s queries.
The Erin he remembered from college had been a shy little thing—lost in Stephanie’s overpowering shadow. That certainly wasn’t the case anymore.
“So,” she continued, “I’d like you all to develop a list of improvements the hospital needs. Equipment, remodeling, new programs you feel would be of benefit to your patients. We’re already into September, and I’d like to campaign for a tax levy. We need to bring this hospital into the twenty-first century.”
Arnold gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “The elections are in November.”
“And likely too soon for us to campaign heavily enough to convince the voters. If it doesn’t appear possible, we could have the proposal withdrawn and request a special election. I’m also looking into some grants, and guaranteed low interest loans being offered to health care institutions by the government.”
“We’ve gotten along before now,” he retorted. “What’s the rush?”
“The hospital, along with the schools here, are a key element of this town’s future. Arnold and Leland, you’re both on the board. You know that there have been concerns about the budget.”
“This is a very small community, Mrs. Lang.” Leland gave her a bored look. “There isn’t a lot of extra money. We’ve even had trouble making payroll from time to time.”
She dropped her attention to the papers in front of her and ran a slender forefinger down a column of numbers on the top sheet. “And if the hospital goes under, there are going to be nearly a hundred full-time, part-time and pool employees without jobs. People who may need to move elsewhere, taking their schoolchildren, their purchasing power and their tax dollars with them.”
“It’s worth looking into, don’t you think?” Jill argued. “We’ve lost a lot of business to Henderson Regional. They offer more services, even if they are farther away.” She glanced at the two older doctors across the table. “People moving into a community want to be assured of good schools and good medical care. If we can’t offer them, the town loses. And we can’t afford that.”
Leland polished his coffee spoon with a napkin, his brow furrowed. “You weren’t here back in ’95. Big plans—everything fell through. People lost money and they lost faith.”
“I’m not looking at finding a few big private investors,” Erin said quietly. “Fund-raising options will be important—but this won’t be the type of situation you experienced before.”
Arnold studied her for a moment, his eyes narrowed. Then he threw up his hands. “Hell, I’m not going to be around here much longer. Should have retired five years ago and moved to Florida after my wife died. If you want to give this a try, more power to you—and I’ll do what I can.”
“I agree.” Jill stood and gave Erin a wink. “Go for it, and we’ll start working on a proposal for you to look over. Connor?”
“If you want the hospital to be competitive, you’ll need to update the equipment and the physical plant. It should have been done years ago.” He shrugged. “I won’t be around long enough to see it happen, but you certainly have my support.”
“Leland?”
