Page 24 of Heartbeat Harmony (Hearts in Hawthorne #2)
Chapter
Thirteen
E li had always been able to compartmentalize, a skill he’d often used over the years.
It had become particularly handy when he headed his own ER.
He had directed medical personnel in several directions all at once, keeping all the patient traumas separate in his head.
He could fire orders left and right, seeing in his mind what course of action would be needed to treat a patient.
Many times, his swift thinking had saved lives.
This skill definitely helped him today with Peter Richards acting as his shadow. Eli forced himself to tuck all thoughts of Autumn away and focus on the Hogan Health official, who was here to see how Eli ran one of their hospitals.
He met Peter for breakfast at the diner, introducing him to Dizzy.
During their meal, half a dozen people had come up to congratulate Eli on the opening of the hospital or ask him a question about it.
One plumber even asked if they were still conducting tours since he’d been on an emergency call last night and hadn’t gotten to attend the reception.
Eli said they weren’t at the moment, but he would consider doing so and took the plumber’s card, promising to notify the man if the tours began up again.
“It wouldn’t be a bad idea from a PR stance,” Peter said.
“Of course, visitors couldn’t be taken everywhere in the hospital as they were able to do last night.
The operating theaters would be off-limits.
The morgue, as well. But you could show off many other parts of the hospital.
Maybe run community tours once a month. That would allow groups such as Girl Scouts or a women’s club to visit and see the facilities up close. ”
“I’ll give it some thought and run it by a couple of my top staff members,” he said.
“Be sure you get Autumn Sutherland’s opinion on it,” Peter suggested.
“I’m very impressed with that hire, Eli.
At first, I thought she might be too young and inexperienced to head up the entire nursing program.
After meeting her last night, however, she impressed me. There’s something special about her.”
Eli couldn’t agree more but couldn’t gush about Autumn.
“She is well thought of. Of course, we’re just beginning to gel as a staff, but Autumn is an integral part of operations at Triple H.”
He moved Autumn to the back burner for now, asking Peter a few questions, and then they headed to the hospital.
“I want you to take me on a tour of the hospital now, Eli,” Peter told him.
He frowned. “You did that last night. Why would you want to do it again?”
The VP smiled. “That was with no patients. I want to see what today is like as the staff is working.”
Eli checked in with Nancy, telling her that Peter and he would be out and about in the hospital and to text him if anything important came up. They started in surgery, where half a dozen procedures were scheduled for today.
“All are elective surgeries at this point, unless someone comes through the door and needs immediate care.” He glanced at the board.
“Today, we’ve got a carpal tunnel. A mastectomy.
A cataract operation. One for varicose veins.
As our doctors see more patients, however, I know we’ll add on everything from knee replacements to shoulder surgery. ”
He led Peter through each wing of the hospital, answered all the VP’s questions with detailed responses.
“You really have a good handle on things,” Peter noted. “I haven’t been able to stump you once.”
“It’s my job to know everything as medical director,” he replied. “I take it seriously.”
They arrived in the labor and delivery section, and Lucy, the charge nurse, met them.
“We hear you are a real hero, Dr. Carson. You and Autumn. Mrs. Anderson can’t quit singing your praises.”
“I’d like to check on her and Scott,” he said.
Lucy excused herself, and Peter asked, “What was she talking about?”
“After the reception last night, Autumn and I were leaving the hospital when a car came racing up. It stopped in front of the ER. A frantic man jumped out, needing assistance. His wife was in labor. Autumn and I brought the Andersons inside and delivered a healthy baby. Little Scott was two weeks early, but that kid has a healthy set of lungs on him.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t mention this before now,” Peter said, frowning.
“To me, something like that is all in a day’s work.
I’ve had countless number of women in labor arrive in my ER in Houston.
Many of them had never even seen a physician throughout their entire pregnancy.
Some didn’t even know they were pregnant.
Leah Anderson did have an OB in Gainesville, but there was no way they could have made it that far with how close her contractions were.
I was glad that we were able to help them bring their son into the world. ”
Eli went to Leah’s room and tapped on the open door, seeing Leah look up and smile at him.
“Dr. Carson, come in.”
They crossed the room, and he saw Scott sleeping in her arms.
Smiling down at her newborn, Leah said, “He just finished eating. The nurses say he’ll be a good eater. I’ve also had several staff members in my room today, giving me instructions on how to care for him. I think everything you do at Triple H is first class.”
Mike entered the room and greeted them, a coffee cup in hand. Eli introduced Peter to the couple.
Mike said, “This doctor opened up the hospital to us last night, sir. He and Autumn saved my wife’s life.
My baby’s, too. There’s no way we could’ve made it to Gainesville.
She would’ve given birth in the car. With Scott coming early, I’m afraid we might have lost him.
” He glanced to his wife and smiled. “Leah, too.”
“Triple H is here for the people of Hawthorne,” Eli said. “And Scott had the honor of being the first baby born here.”
Peter interjected, “I hope you don’t mind if we do a little story about your family, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. It would be terrific to put it on the hospital’s website and let others know just how caring the physicians are at Hogan Health Hawthorne.”
“We’re happy to do anything,” Mike said. “Dr. Carson and Autumn are the ones who deserve all the credit.”
“Autumn came by this morning to check on us,” Leah shared. “She also suggested a nipple cream for me to use. She’s such a thoughtful nurse.”
“We just wanted to stop by and check on you, Leah,” Eli said. “Good to see that things are going well. If you have any questions before you’re discharged, please let me know.”
He gave Mike one of his cards and then guided Peter from the room.
“That’s going to make for a fantastic story,” Peter enthused.
“I hate that I don’t know this detail, but who’s in charge of our website? I know corporate set it up and it connects to the main Hogan Health website. We’ll want to update things periodically from our end. How do we go about that?”
“Usually, your assistant would send information to our webmaster in Austin, but we’ve been opening hospitals left and right. It might be a good idea to hire local talent to update this hospital’s website.”
Thinking of Kelby Sutherland, Eli said, “Autumn’s sister-in-law is a web designer and does graphics. She also handles social media accounts.”
“Hmm.” Peter thought a moment. “Our social media is handled at corporate. It’s very generic, though.
Why don’t you schedule a meeting with her and have her create some social media accounts specifically for Hogan Health Hawthorne, as well as authorize her to do updates to your hospital’s website?
See what she can do with it. I’d like to sit in on the meeting with her if I could, but I’m driving north of Wichita Falls once I’m done here.
I’m scouting land between there and Lawton, Oklahoma, trying to evaluate if it would be practical to build a hospital in that area. ”
“Let me give Kelby a call and see if we can work something out.”
He pulled out the card Kelby had given him and dialed the number for Social Synergy Creations.
“It’s Eli Carson, Kelby. I’m with one of the executives from the Hogan Health corporate office, and we’d like to schedule a meeting with you. Today, if possible.”
“I could be at the hospital by one,” she offered.
“That works for us. Thank you. I know this is last minute.”
“I specialize in last minute, Dr. Carson. See you at one.”
“She can meet with us at one this afternoon,” Eli told Peter. “This pretty much wraps up your tour with me. Why don’t we grab some lunch in the cafeteria and then head back to my office?”
On the way to the cafeteria, Eli told Peter about the cafeteria manager, who also served as the hospital’s dietician, raving about the nutritious, delicious meals he had sampled.
“I’ve spent a good portion of my life eating hospital cafeteria food. At best, it was mediocre and not always nutritious. Veronica gives us a different take on what hospital food can be, both for visitors and patients.”
They entered the cafeteria, and Eli saw it was about half full at the moment.
Immediately, he spied Autumn at a table with several nurses in scrubs.
It would be hard to keep thoughts of her on the back burner now with them being in the same room, but he doubled his focus and gave Peter all his attention.
“I like that you offer a salad bar,” the VP said.
“We also have fresh bread which is baked at Luscious Layers, a spot in town. They’ll also deliver a limited amount of sweets daily to us.
Veronica says we should offer sweets, and she has some healthy ones on her menu, but there will always be people who want a slice of pie or cake with their meal. ”
He and Peter sat together, continuing to talk business. Eli deliberately seated himself so his back would be to Autumn.