Page 65 of Don't Tell Me How to Die

Alex shook his head. “You know Justin—he’s a man of faith. He’s decided that his affliction is a sign from God that he was meant to be doing something else with his life. Something with a purpose. Something for the greater good.”

“Like what?”

“I have no idea.”

But the board members at Heartstone Medical had an idea. They’d been looking for a new CEO, and as soon as they heard Dr. Theobald was available, they decided that their search was over. It was a wise decision. Justin was not only a natural-born leader; he was a visionary. Six months after he took the reins, we were having Sunday dinner with him and Lydia when he decided to share his dream with us.

“I want to build a Level I trauma center at Heartstone,” he said.

We were stunned.

Lydia smiled. “The two of you look like you need another glass of wine.”

“Or a defibrillator,” Alex said. “Keep talking, Justin.”

“Look, I know it’s a bold plan for a hospital our size, but I’ve done some feasibility studies. We already have the perfect location—the acreage on the south side of the campus. It’s a beautiful spot overlooking the pond.

“We’ll need to secure a two-hundred-million-dollar revenue bond to finance construction, but I believe we can do it. And if we do, we can offer our patients a higher level of care and better clinical outcomes, attract more of the best and brightest doctors, and turn Heartstone Medical into one of the premiere health organizations in the state of New York. What do you think, Alex?”

“Without trying to sound like a suck-up, I’d say it’s brilliant.”

“I should have known better than to ask my favorite suck-up,” Theobald said. “Maggie, what do you think? You never pull any punches.”

“Since brilliant is off the table, I’m going with inspired.” I paused. “However...”

“Aha! You smell a problem. Don’t hold back,” Justin said, egging me on. “Poke a hole in it now so I can find a fix before I present it to the board.”

“The Crocker Street Development Group,” I said. “They’re planning to build an eighty-eight-unit townhouse complex across the road from our campus, and guess what their big selling point is.”

Lydia held up her hand. “A spectacular view of Magic Pond,” she said. “One of their investors is a member at our club. They haven’t even broken ground, and she’s already offered me ‘charter member ground floor pricing’ starting at one point three million. She must have said the words ‘spectacular view of Magic Pond’ five times in two minutes. Tacky, to say the least.”

“What’s her name?” I asked.

“Minna Schultz. Do you know her?”

If the Theobalds were a little less genteel, I might have said,“She’s the heartless bitch who destroyed Arnold Sinclair’s business and ultimately drove him to murder his wife and son, then take his own life. You’re damn right I know her. I’d like to rip her black heart out and shove it up her ass. The only problem is, I’ll have to fight off my best friend, Misty, to see who gets first crack.”

But some things are best left unsaid.

“I’ve heard of her,” I said. Then I turned to Justin. “Please don’t shoot the messenger. You asked me to poke holes. Minna Schultz will not stand idly by and let the hospital block her view.”

“Well then, it will be my job to inform her that it’s not her view. It’s ours.”

THIRTY-NINE

Step by step Justin moved the project forward. First creating a business plan, then getting the hospital planning board and our wealthiest constituents behind him, and finally securing a promise from a New York City bank to float the $200 million bond.

And then he announced the news to the press. Within hours Minna Schultz tweeted that the new trauma center would not only destroy acres of Heartstone’s green space but it would also poison the pond.

Dr. Theobald calmly responded by explaining that he was working with one of the country’s leading aquatic engineering firms, planned to dredge the pond, remove the six to eight feet of muck and sediment that had accumulated over the past hundred years, and then restore the natural bottom, leaving cleaner water and a healthier ecosystem.

Minna didn’t let up. She brought in experts of her own, all of whom branded the new trauma center as a toxic environmental threat.

Theobald tried to reason with her, which of course was futile. He tried negotiating, and when that failed, he held a town hall forum where he had hoped public opinion might help change her mind.

Alex and I were there that night. Minna was geared for battle, armed withconclusive evidencethat dredging Magic Pond would not give it new life, but would destroy it. And when she was done attacking the vision, she went after the visionary.

Microphone in hand, Minna harangued Justin viciously, calling him a washed-up quack who was trying to cling to a failed medical career by running a multimillion-dollar hospital business without having a shred of business training.

---