We need to talk about your numbers.
Of people we've saved?
Metrics.
Our door-to-balloon times beat federal standards.
I'm talking about Press Ganey scores. Patient satisfaction.
If they're still alive, they should be satisfied.
Our goal is 36% very satisfied with their care. Your department is at 8%. Do you know how likely patients are to recommend this hospital?
This is an emergency department, not a Taco Bell.
11%.
Well, if you want people to be happier, don't make 'em wait for 12 hours.
There's a nursing shortage across the country.
Most of our patients are boarders who are waiting for a bed upstairs.
We don't have the beds.
That's bullshit. The beds are up there. You just don't want to hire the staff you need to care for them.
Like I said, there's a nursing shortage.
Well, if you paid them a living wage, they'd be lining up to work here.
Our budget can't support that.
[laughs] Here's a dirty little secret. The hospital saves money keeping patients down here in the Pitt. It's way cheaper than staffing upstairs.
I have asked you repeatedly to stop referring to the emergency department as the Pitt. It is derogatory and incompatible to the institution's image.
You know what's incompatible with the institution's image? Me speaking to the media about people who code in our waiting rooms and people who get shitty care in our hallways waiting for an ICU bed for days.
I've heard about doctors who have tried that and find themselves out of work.
Uh-huh.
I know today is difficult for you.
Every day is difficult down here.
Boarding is a nationwide problem. Your predecessor, Adamson, sure as hell knew that. Or wasn't that something he taught you?
Fuck. Wow. Really?
Yes, really. Other hospitals are managing this crisis much more effectively. So, you can either step up your game, or you can step aside.
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