From Bedpans to Boardrooms

The surgical services waiting room of this small, community hospital was packed with people but not because of surgical cases. It was the meeting of the decade for this small town in southcentral Ohio. The police were there and there were guards at all the doors. Tension and anger perfused the room like sweat. I saw the main members of the opposition group gathered in one area, laughing and bolstering each other. The Board of Directors and I gathered at the front of the room, quietly maintaining a positive image. We were awaiting the final tally of the vote of the corporate membership, the vote that would either stop the impending merger of our small hospital with a large healthcare system or approve it. It was, without a doubt, a watershed event. My Board Chair, Tom Baker, smiled as he said "well, Susan, this is it. This is what we've been working toward for almost two years now! Now, we're going to see and experience the growth we need to survive". "I know it, Tom. It's been a long time coming." Here I was, now, at the front of this mob of people and the cameras were rolling. Tom called on me, as the President and CEO of our hospital, to give the count of the ballots. A hush came over the room as everyone waited to hear the outcome of this historic and volatile vote. I leaned toward the microphones and said "Mr. Chairman, I have 325 votes in favor of the merger and 26 opposed!" We won! We won! My Board and I had prevailed! I heard a loud commotion and turned to see some chairs overturning as a couple of guys started swinging at each other - it was one of my Board members and a doc from the opposition group, duking it out right there! Jim, the Board member, yelled "stand still so I can hit you" while the doc ducked and came up right in front of Jim and tried to punch him in the face, sputtering something like "you deserve this for what you've done to our hospital". Several of the guys jumped up and pulled them apart. The emotions were heady and everyone was nervous. Suddenly, I heard a popping kind of noise and felt a burning pain in my side. I didn't know what had happened until I felt the warmth of the blood seeping from my body. "Oh, God, I've been shot", I cried out - I was just doing my job and they shot me!" I can't die now, I thought, not after all we've been through and we've won! I pressed my hand against my side as everything grew dimmer.