Chapter 14
What Would It Look Like to Be Fulfilled Again?
L
et me take the liberty to paint a picture of a potential future state where providers are once again passionate about delivering healthcare, enjoy going to work every day, and feel that their efforts are appreciated. I’m going to do this in the form of a short story set in the fictional town of Pleasantville, a blue-collar working town somewhere in the Midwest. The local hospital, Pleasantville Charity Hospital (PCH), has one hundred licensed beds and an average census of about seventy-five patients. The hospital owns the multispecialty provider group and has an attached office building where over 80 percent of the providers practice. About eighty miles to the north is Megatown, a thriving city of close to one million persons. Megatown General Hospital (MGH) is recognized as the regional tertiary care center and operates with an employed provider base. Most MGH providers also hold positions at the Founder’s University School of Medicine. The cast of characters is set (I assure you I made all of these up), so let’s see what a few typical days have in store for the providers at PCH and MGH.
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