Ringing for the Nurse
When the phone rings, S.Q. Lapius was busy typing
something and I was stretched out in front of the fireplace reading the Sunday
papers. Because he obviously didn’t want to be interrupted, I allowed it
to ring.
“Harry,” Lapius barked impatiently, “Do something
about that infernal noise.”
I struggled to my feet and picked up the receiver,
listened for a moment and turned to Lapius. “It’s for you.”
“Tell them I don’t want to be disturbed.”
“He doesn’t want to be disturbed,” I told the
telephone.
The phone answered me. I turned to Lapius
again. “It’s an emergency.”
Lapius organized his bulk into an upright position
and having overcome its initial inertia was walking for the phone.
“Yes, this is Dr. Lapius.” He listened for a
while and then hung up muttering a few imprecations. “Come on
Harry. We are going to the hospital.”
“Which one?”
“Point.”
He filled me in on the details of the emergency on
the taxi ride over. “You know
“That constitutes an emergency?”
“Not exactly. There’s more to it. When he
got to the hospital they didn’t have any beds and so they put him in the
hall. He is very upset and wants me to get him a room. That’s the
emergency.”
“Why call you? You are not his doctor.
After all, he knows members of the board of trustees at Point.”
“Yes but it’s a weekend. They are on their
yachts.” By this time we had arrived. I paid the taxi and followed
Lapius into the hospital.
We found Lord sitting up in bed, his hands tied to
the side-rails.
“Lapius,” he called. “You don’t know how glad I
am to see you. Untie me immediately.”
Lapius was unruffled. “Calm yourself,
I ran and returned with the news that Lord had been
running up and down the hall and the doctors ordered him to be restrained before
he hurts himself and sues the hospital.
“You see,
“I wasn’t just running up and down the halls. I
was looking for a room.”
“But
“I know damn well there are rooms available,”
“Well you know about it now,” Lapius murmured wryly.
“That’s just it. They are doing this to spite
me. For revenge. Now untie me.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Because I refused to allow them to open their new
wing. Now untie me.”
“Why did you refuse to allow them to open their new wing?”
“Because the community doesn’t need more hospital
beds. I have the population figures. Now untie me.”
“Well, perhaps you are right,
“But if emergency cases come in --?”
“Then you will have company in the halls.”
“That’s unconscionable. I can’t wait till
tomorrow. There are no facilities in the halls. There is no
oxygen. Suppose I have an attack during the night?”
“Tut, tut,” Lapius sympathized, “Nothing like that
will happen. But it is ironic to think that there are sixty eight empty
beds available in the annex here if only your office would grant permission for
their utilization. It’s a shame. The community spent 6 million
dollars to create those empty beds.”
“Lapius,” Lord implored, “Have me moved to one of
those rooms. No one will know. Untie me.”
“I couldn’t do that,
“Untie me.”
“I’d like to
On the ride back from the hospital I observed that
Lapius seemed unduly harsh.
“Not at all, my dear boy. I didn’t create his
predicament. Anyway, the law is insipid. Why shouldn’t any group be
allowed to start a hospital as long as they follow the codes. Let the
market place decide if there are enough beds. The efforts to assure adequate
health care have created counterproductive statutes that actually create
shortages that can only be rectified after months or perhaps years to
litigation.”
“You could at least have untied his hands,” I said.
“Not at all, Harry. Let him be. It will give
him time to think.”
COMMENT
Hard
to believe, but in those days the government held the belief that a surplus of
hospital beds encouraged an increase in hospital patient census and thus an
increase in costs. Did the bureaucrats
really believe that reducing the number of hospital beds would reduce the
incidence of disease?