Chapter 52: Dossiers

January 26, 1997, Chicago, Illinois

Pandemonium erupted in the ‘Indian’ room.

“Oh my God!” Bethany gasped. “But...”

“We know, Bethany,” I replied gently. “The Hospital Board is convening in emergency session tomorrow evening at Howard Pointe’s request. Al went to Doctor Malik Washington, who went to Howard, who called the emergency meeting.”

“But why reveal it if nobody knew for sure?” Samantha asked.

“Because someone made the connection and asked me about it. We were worried that would happen, and hoped it wouldn’t be for several more years.”

“Because Albert looks like Doctor Al?” Stephanie asked.

I nodded, “Yes. Did you suspect?”

Stephanie shook her head, “No, but you don’t want to know what came to mind.”

I smiled, “I can guess, and yes, that would be the logical conclusion, especially given our unique family situation.”

“I just couldn’t believe it, so I chalked it up to ‘one of those things’.”

“How long have you known, Jessica?”

“My mom told me when I was six,” she replied. “Steve became suspicious a few years ago. He confronted Doctor Barton and got the truth from him. The kids don’t know.”

“They’re both going to be in grave danger of losing their medical licenses,” Brian said. “You should retain legal counsel right away.”

“Actually, there is no written policy against it at either UofC or Indiana University Medical School, although I suspect there will be very soon.”

“You’re sure about that?”

“I read the policy documents myself. And the record will prove there was no fraud with regard to obtaining a medical license. Remember, too, that Jessica graduated from medical school after Al came to Chicago, and had perfect marks for her clinical rotations which he didn’t supervise. As for the Match, every single person on the committee listed Jessica first, and she listed UofC first. And remember, too, more than half of her training was on the surgical service with the Chief Surgeon supervising her, and her Fellowship was at Cook County.”

“You make a good argument,” Brian said, “but as someone who has to deal with those kinds of things as an ‘Ops’ officer, the optics look pretty bad.”

I nodded, “I know. But in the end, neither of them violated any policy or any law, or any ethical guideline published by the AMA or Medical Licensing Board.”

“So what’s going to happen?” Samantha asked.

“I don’t know, but in the end, I believe the hospital has no choice but to accept that it happened, figure out a reporting structure to protect themselves, most likely involving the Chief Surgeon, and letting it rest. Of course, Al has enemies, so they’ll try to make a mess of this. That’s what Doctors Washington, Carver, Robertson, Swanson, and others are going to try to head off.”

“I’ll talk to Malik tomorrow,” Bethany said.

I shook my head, “Wait until Tuesday, please. The other doctors don’t know yet. Malik is going to call them as soon as the meeting concludes tomorrow night to let them know.”

“When will you tell Albert and Ashley?” Kathy asked.

“Tomorrow after dinner,” I replied. “I know I can trust all of you to not reveal anything, but kids are different. With all of you, I felt I owed you. There are others I would have liked to tell, but some things can’t be helped.”

“Do you have an attorney?” Brian asked.

“I know one or two who might be willing to help us,” I grinned.

Everyone laughed, and that broke a bit of the tension in the room.

“Does Dad know?” Stephanie asked.

I shook my head, “No. I’ll call him in a few minutes, though I’ll need to swear him to secrecy, even from Mom.”

“Oh she’d LOVE it,” my sister groaned.

“What about Troy and Angela?” Elyse asked.

“Given that we have no idea how they’re going to react, nothing will be said, at least until later in the week. Obviously, Angela knows.”

“Obviously!” Kathy said mirthfully. “There has to be a story there.”

“I’ll tell it once this all plays out,” Jessica said quietly.

“And on that note, I think we should go make sure the kids haven’t set fire to the house!” Kara declared.

Everyone left the ‘Indian’ room and I went to my study to call my dad in Ohio.

“I had my suspicions,” he said. “I knew the alternative couldn’t be true.”

“You and Stephanie both,” I replied. “When did you start to suspect?”

“A couple of years ago when it became clear Albert really favored Al. Given your lifestyle, I knew anything was possible, but it just didn’t seem as if that was what had happened. What’s the way forward?”

“An emergency hearing of the Hospital Board. A doctor who is a good friend of Al’s, and a friend of mine, is going to present the information along with all the evidence that shows everything was kosher despite this. Howard Pointe is handling it with the doctor.”

“It probably would have been a lot better for this to come out years ago.”

“I know, but once Al and Jessica decided on the course of action, that was it. When I found out a few years ago, it was too late to fix it. And actually, given everything that has happened, the timing is pretty good, all things considered.”

“Al is going to have to leave his position.”

“I don’t think so,” I replied. “Remember, he didn’t violate any policies or laws. They don’t have grounds to terminate him. And yes, they could invoke the termination clause in his contract, but if they didn’t come up with a reason, he’d easily win a lawsuit. It’s not worth the bad PR this is going to cost them. I suspect he’ll get a letter of reprimand in his file for not disclosing the relationship, and that will be the end of it. He’s taking responsibility, so Jess shouldn’t have an issue with that.”

“You seem awfully sure of yourself.”

“Because I analyzed this from every perspective and reviewed all the documents. The only issue will be a couple of enemies Al made who are on the Hospital Board. I think, in the end, they’ll realize that the damage they’d do to the hospital would be so great that they’ll just have to let it go. Of course, they’ll be gunning for Al, but he’s used to that.”

“Never underestimate how venal people can be. They may prefer personal gain to the well-being of the hospital.”

“They do so at their own peril,” I said firmly. “Nobody is clean, Dad. Nobody.”

“What are you implying?” he asked lightly.

“Helicopters. Police. The main office of your dry cleaning and coin laundry business in California. A quick move to Tucson and then to Ohio. I believe that had to be more than just your Cuban business partner embezzling funds. You don’t have THAT kind of response for a white-collar crime in the early 70s.”

“Ask me that question again in 2019,” he replied.

Fifty years, which meant it was CIA-related. And that meant that my dad’s story about when he actually left government service might not be entirely accurate. I suppressed a laugh because if he was lying, it was because he was ordered to do so for national security reasons. And probably personal safety reasons.

“I’ll add that to my list!” I replied.

“Do you know who the directors are?”

“Yes. And I asked Katya for dossiers. I should have them tomorrow. I hope to not need them.”

“It would better if you didn’t. Any updates on the situation with Dante?”

“Just what I told the Board the other day - we filed our answer to the complaint and briefs on the motions. I expect we’ll be going to discovery as soon as the judge rules on all the motions.”

“Keep me posted on everything.”

“Will do.”

We said ‘goodbye’ and hung up, and I went to join my family and friends.

January 27, 1997, Chicago, Illinois

“I have a fax for you,” Kimmy said on Monday afternoon. “It’s marked confidential.”

“Thanks.”

She handed me a sheaf of fax paper and I quickly scanned it.

“What’s that?” Penny asked.

“You did hear Kimmy say ‘confidential’, right?” I asked. “And you do know what ‘confidential’ means, right?”

“Confidentially, I’m going to beat your ass one of these days!”

I chuckled, “6th Dan black belt.”

“Pissed off blonde named Penelope!” she countered.

“Suddenly, I don’t like my chances as much as I did ten seconds ago!”

“You shouldn’t!”

“I really can’t share this, Penny.”

“Uh-huh.”

I couldn’t. The fax consisted of two five-page dossiers on Nelson Robbins and Jack Keller, the two directors who were self-proclaimed enemies of Al Barton. I laughed at the first page of the Robbins’ dossier because it had the only thing I could possibly need - he’d fathered a child out of wedlock and had hidden that fact from his wife. I wondered how Katya had come up with that information, but I trusted her implicitly.

Keller, on the other hand, appeared squeaky-clean - a church-going Presbyterian who was an elder of his church, married to his grade school sweetheart, with two kids, one who was at Yale and one who was at Stanford. He gave charitably in large amounts from his family fortune, and sat on several boards. But that got me to wondering - how had he become Al’s enemy? What was it about the medical director?

I got up from my desk and went to the ‘Orr’ room and called Katya using my cell phone and asked her to find any links between Jack Keller and Doctor Grover Nordstrom, the former medical director. She promised to get back to me right away. We hung up and I went to my desk and finished my work for the afternoon. Katya hadn’t called by the time Elyse and I left for home, but just as I pulled into the alley behind the house my cell phone rang.

“You have something?” I asked.

“Doctor Grover Nordstrom is married to Nicole Keller, Jack Keller’s younger sister.”

“Perfect! Thank you, Katya!”

“You’re welcome, Stepa! Please let me know if there is anything else.”

“Just the invoice,” I replied.

“Charged to your retainer. There are still sufficient funds in that account.”

“Thanks again,” I replied.

We said ‘goodbye’ and I snapped the phone shut just as I pulled into the driveway. I parked and opened the phone again.

“What?” Elyse asked impatiently.

“The two directors. The first one has a secret child out of wedlock. The other one, well, it’s worse, actually. The former medical director is his brother-in-law, and I bet you anything he didn’t disclose THAT!”

“Holy shit,” Elyse laughed. “How the fuck do you ALWAYS come out on top!”

“Just that good, I guess. And I’m not ALWAYS on top!”

“Make your call,” she replied, laughing.

I dialed Malik’s cell phone and caught him in his office, preparing for the meeting.

“Malik, it’s Steve. I have information for you, which I can document. Keep it in your pocket unless you need it.”

“Go on.”

“Doctor Grover Nordstrom is married to Nicole Keller, Jack Keller’s little sister.”

“What?!”

“Well, that confirms my suspicions. He DID hide that fact. That means you actually shouldn’t keep it in your pocket. Instead, when you see him tonight, casually mention you ran into his sister and her husband a few weeks ago. He’ll get the message loud and clear.”

“I would think so! What about Nelson Robbins?”

“That one I’ll handle,” I said. “Trust me; you don’t want to know. It’s not relevant to the hospital, but it IS relevant to him keeping his mouth shut.”

“Be careful, Steve.”

“Malik, this is all under control. Jeri Lundgren has five secure votes on the board and several more who usually support what she wants. Why do you think I had you take this to Howard?”

“Remind me never to cross you!” he laughed.

“Politics is an ugly, dirty business which has no place in the hospital; but because it’s there, I’m going to use that fact to our advantage. You stay out of THAT part of the fray.”

“Gladly! I met with Doctor Ackerman a few minutes ago, and he agreed to supervise Jessica. I needed to do that before the meeting to ensure I didn’t get shot down after the fact.”

“Understood. What did he say?”

“About what I expected - doctors help their kids all the time, and the only thing wrong here is that Al didn’t say anything, but he also understands why that happened. He agrees with you, by the way, that the punishment will probably be a slap on the wrist.”

“Thanks. I need to make a couple more calls right away.”

“I’ll call you after the meeting.”

“Thanks.”

I disconnected the call and snapped the phone shut.

“What about the other thing?” Elyse asked.

“I need a different approach,” I said.

We hurried into the house and after greeting everyone, I went to my study and shut the door. I dialed Eve’s cell phone and as I expected, she answered right away.

“Hey, Boss! What’s up?”

“I need you to place a call with the burner phone you keep for Cincinnati.”

“Sure. To whom?”

“Nelson Robbins. He’s a director on the Hospital Board. I’ll give you his mobile number. Call until you get him, even if you have to dial a dozen times. I suspect he’ll answer by the third time, if not before.”

“And what am I supposed to say?”

“Exactly this and no more - Chris Hammond and Jessica Adams are inextricably linked.”

“Meaning?”

“For this moment, you don’t need to know. We can talk tomorrow. If he says ‘what?’, just repeat it. Ask him to repeat it back to you and ask if he understands. I’m sure he’ll say ‘no’, but I’m also sure that within an hour of receiving the call, he’ll get the point.”

“You got some dirt on him to protect Al and Jessica.”

“Make the call please, and then call me back to confirm. We can discuss it tomorrow.”

“OK.”

We said ‘goodbye’ and hung up. Less than ten minutes later she called back.

“He was totally confused,” Eve said. “But I did as you asked. He repeated it back, but kept demanding to know what that meant. I told him I was just the messenger and had no idea.”

“Destroy that phone, please. Nobody can trace it to you, but I don’t want to take any risks. Get a new one and get the number to Anthony.”

“Will do. I’ll smash the phone with a hammer and drop pieces of the phone in different trash cans on the way to work tomorrow. I know it’s extreme, but I don’t want to take any risks at all.”

“Good. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

I hung up and went to join the family for dinner, and then my wives and daughters went to karate. Jessica was on pins and needles the entire time, and just before 8:00pm, Malik called.

“You called it exactly right,” he replied. “After the immediate outrage, it was all about protecting the hospital’s reputation. A committee was formed to develop policies for the future, and to decide how to handle the current crisis in terms of PR. But they went you one better - Jessica can work, she just can’t do any procedures until a thorough review of the records is completed. Your idea to gather everything will speed that up. I’d guess you’ll have an answer by the end of the week, and I’m sure it will be favorable.”

“So she can teach her classes?”

“Yes. Someone else will have to do her chart reviews and take her ER shifts, but teaching only requires a medical degree, not a medical license. And Al had nothing to do with hiring her as a professor - that’s done separately from hiring Attendings.”

“What about Al?”

“I think I’d call it ‘double-secret probation’. He’s suspended, with pay, while they investigate, but they’ll call it ‘emergency leave’ if anyone asks. If everything checks out, he’ll have a formal reprimand in the private section of his file. Most likely he’ll be on non-medical probation for a time, and that means he would have to recuse himself from hiring decisions and decisions on the Match as well. They have to do SOMETHING, and I think they are trying to strike a balance between how bad this would look and how bad it would look if it got out that there was no punishment.”

“That makes sense. I take it ‘non-medical’ means he can continue to practice and supervise?”

“Yes. If it was medical probation, he’d need to have someone sign off on everything for him. In other words, he couldn’t do his job. But there were no medical violations anyone is aware of.”

“Which we knew from the records.”

“Just so you know, it was Howard who insisted on the harsher punishment than we suggested.”

“I had an idea that might happen after my conversation with him on Friday. I don’t think Al will object.”

“He didn’t. I spoke to him just before I called you.”

“What about Robbins and Keller?”

“I thought I might have to take Jack Keller to the cath lab when I said I’d run into his sister and her husband! And Nelson Robins looked like a condemned man facing an executioner!”

As well he should, I thought, remembering Jessica’s reaction to the chance that Rachel Rizzi was my daughter.

“Thanks, Malik,” I said.

“Jessica will be informed tomorrow, officially, but I’m sure you’re going to tell her.”

“I am.”

We said ‘goodbye’ and I hung up.

“Well?” Jessica asked, apprehensively.

“You can’t take any shifts or do any chart reviews until the review is complete, but you can teach your classes. No suspension, just no shifts in the hospital.”

“Oh thank God,” she said, tears of joy and relief streaming down her cheeks.

“What about Al?” Kara asked.

“Howard decided my suggestion for punishment wasn’t strong enough. Al is suspended, with pay, until they finish a review. If that checks out, which I’m sure it will, he’ll have a formal reprimand in his file and be on non-medical probation for some period of time, which doesn’t affect the doctor part of his job, just the administrative part. According to Doctor Washington, the directors had to balance how it would look if the punishment was too light, if it should escape.”