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“That’s how it should be,” I agreed, letting them know I was there. I ignored when they both jumped but then glanced between them. “Did everything get resolved with HR?”

“Yes, Dr. Clark,” she assured me. “When I got transferred here, they put me at the wrong level given how long I’ve worked here, and then I wouldn’t get top pick of time off.

I waited to have kids until I had that because I—it’s hard being a mom and not getting to enjoy breaks with your kids.

My mom struggled with that, and I don’t want that with my kids. ”

“I’m glad it worked out. If it ever doesn’t or—I’ll make sure it does with HR.”

The other woman smiled at me. “We know. Working for you is so much better than the last office I was with.”

The nurse cleared her throat. “It would be almost perfect if we could get rid of one or two problems.”

“I know, but we need replacements or I’m not sure the extra workload that will be put on you will be worth it,” I told them. “But I’m working on it, not blind to it.”

“We know,” they said together.

“What did you mean about Ms. Reed on an interview?” I asked, dying to know what they were talking about but not seem like it.

“She held a press conference about the changes to ASH and the path we’re on,” the nurse told me. “It was seriously impressive. She’s going to piss a lot of people off.”

“Can you text me the link?” I asked.

The first woman pulled out her phone and nodded. “Done. You’ve got about five minutes until your next appointment.” She shrugged when the nurse chuckled. “I couldn’t wait to see it when someone mentioned it. It affects all of us.”

Yes, it did, but she also gave me good cover.

Shock rocked me at what I saw. Not that Ellie was commanding and made it clear she was the boss of ASH. No, it was what she said, and… Yeah, she was drawing a line all right. She made it clear that there had been some changes to ASH, but it was just the start.

And she didn’t hold back, properly outlining that the former board held ASH back and allowed too much bad behavior.

She also made sure to point out that the hospital was looked at poorly when first started because it was doctors trying to run a business, but the board had tried to use her not being a doctor to toss her out.

While ignoring that they weren’t doctors either.

She totally spilled the tea that they were too lazy to do their homework because dozens and dozens of people in the hospital had worked there long enough to remember when she was a practicing doctor.

People got hung up on that, too big of egos that lost focus, and so when she acted as an administrator, she was Ms. Reed.

When she did—and had—jumped in to help since all of her certifications were current, she was the patients’ doctor. That was all that mattered, and hopefully she now cleared up that very simple practice.

Woooowwwwww.

“ASH has and always will be different than other hospitals because we understand we can never be perfect and accept our flaws,” she said firmly.

“We strive to do better and already have since implementing the new policies. We’ve started to cut out the toxic cancer that was eating away at this place. Unfortunately, there’s more to do.

“There are still too many who forgot their purpose here, and we’ve had several hospitals try to offload their problems to us.

That is—it’s not easy running any hospital.

And burning bridges normally leaves you with lasting scars.

However , a hospital is supposed to be about patient care and forwarding medicine.

“So to break the cycle of passing inferior staff around to the next unsuspecting hospital, going forward, ASH will confirm employment but also whether or not the individual would ever be allowed to apply here for employment again. I think stating clearly that a doctor or nurse is not welcome back at ASH if their circumstances changed says all that’s needed.

“That is the professional way to handle issues without this childish behavior of rumor spreading or disclosing opinions instead of facts. The fact is they are welcome back here or not. ASH was not a fit for them and we won’t be giving a referral if they weren’t.

Anything beyond that is personal unless a legal issue and we report those. Immediately. Always.

“I hope others adopt this process and we can start cutting dead weight instead of passing on problems that hurt our medical community. On the idea of getting in new blood and cutting out toxic, with the full support of the department heads, we’re changing our hiring process.

No longer will positions be posted after someone leaves.

“We won’t ignore applications or resumes unless we have open attending spots.

No, we’re wiping our system clean and starting over.

As of midnight, we are taking applications and resumes at all levels from entry-level maintenance and cafeteria all the way to my job.

If you think you are better suited to run ASH and you can back that up, then the job should be yours.

“It’s what’s best for ASH and our patients.

That’s the focus going forward. Do I think there’s anyone out there better than some of our department heads?

No, but I’ve been wrong before. We’re also planning a massive expansion and some new specialized departments.

We all know some departments are too broad and the emergency department is one of them.

“We’re working on reconfiguring it to be more efficient so when the next natural disaster strikes, we’ll be even better prepared than we were last time.

Things need to be shaken up from time to time as Dr. Carla Greer has shown us as the head of the dermatology department.

Now, instead of being so top-heavy, we have more room for younger doctors to learn and shine.

“Our support staff no longer hassled under lazy doctors who forgot why they’re here instead of filling hours until their next tee time.

How nice for them while the rest of us kill ourselves running this place and making it all work.

No more of that. And it can be done. I know several practices that the attendings are one of the last to leave.

“Those are leaders. Those are the people staff like to work for. That is a place that is enjoyable to work at. That is what ASH is returning to. Patient care and caring for our own people. I don’t care if I have to fire an entire department to make it happen. I will.

“I will fire as many as I need to because I fully believe there are a lot of people out there who feel as I do. They want to come to a safe and respectful work environment where they’re not just a number or disposable, but a person.

Not have to endure gossip or catty behavior because someone is the favorite of a board member or attending, so they get away with it.

“They won’t anymore. They will be shown the door. You have my word on that. Our overhauled HR department knows that and we will start handling conflicts as supes. We’re not humans who have to guess what happened and it’s idiocy to try when we’re busy professionals here.”

“You can’t think that will go over well,” someone called out and interrupted what Ellie was going to say next.

She glanced around and met the gaze of someone, smirking.

“And? This isn’t high school and I’m not here to win a popularity contest. I’m here to run this hospital as it should be now that the shackles have been taken off of me.

If the adults who work here don’t want to be called out by HR for causing problems, then don’t cause them . That simple.”

There was some more back and forth before she reminded people that if they thought they could do a better job than what she had laid out and planned, that they would be free to apply at midnight for the owner to consider.

I swallowed a snort. Talk about rigging the game, but this wasn’t a game to her and that was how people were acting.

It definitely turned up the temperature at the hospital and got people talking about something other than what happened to Ellie the week before. I knew that wasn’t why she’d done it, but it worked out nicely. I had people asking me left and right what I thought about it and I backed her.

And not just because I was in love with her. I reminded them I was an Alpha wolf and it was in a shifter’s nature to always keep pushing for their spot or to be at the top.

Why should it be any different to deserve a practice at the best hospital in the world?

Several people were less than thrilled with my opinion and let me know it.

I let them know that I didn’t care. A few were in ortho, and I made sure to mention that I had a few ortho contacts I’d worked with and recommended they put in resumes at the hospital.

They wanted to play around and try to push me to try to get on their side? Fuck no. I was going to push back and hopefully push them out of the hospital.

Toxic fucks.

There was more and I even saw Ellie in some interviews saying that hospitals weren’t treating their people well enough and ASH had been guilty of that past. It wouldn’t happen anymore, and she was willing to put the hospital’s money on the line, several offers including relocation costs and help getting children set up in the school system next year.

I heard a few of my nurses call friends or people they knew after that interview came out.

Then there was the one where she finally stepped forward as the head of Amanda’s Hope, explaining who Amanda Hope was. It was a brilliant interview that included Alexis Gomez who was just as amazing on camera.

“Look, we realize that not every hospital is set up or has the backing to handle the legal battles that can come up with the situations of domestic abuse,” Ellie said firmly.

“They rely on donations and complications that ASH doesn’t have.

I have some of the best attorneys in-house and on speed dial. ”