Steve’s Escape: Chapter 2

Steve and Maria soon forgot about everything they discussed at the farm during Thanksgiving. Mark’s and Kelly’s warnings did not bother them as they went back to work and settled back into their old lives and continued on as usual.

“Hey, Girl,” Sally said.

“Hey yourself,” Maria replied. “Do you believe it’s only been two weeks since Thanksgiving? I can’t even remember it.”

“Same here. So much for time off restoring you, I’m as stressed now as I was before my vacation.”

“Time flies doesn’t it? Before you know it, another year will start and you’ll be another year older.”

“Ha. Ha. Very funny. Aren’t you a few years older than I am?”

“What’s got everyone in a fuss?” Maria said nodding over to a group of nurses gathered around the front desk.

“Let’s find out.”

“Hey, everyone. What’s going on?” Maria asked the other nurses as she and Sally approached the front desk.

“You haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?”

“There’s a rumor going around that the mayor and city council are going to close us down. It seems the hospital board couldn’t get a grant from the state or feds this year and we’re out of money.”

“That can’t be right. We serve 80% of the people in this city and the surrounding counties. They can’t close us down. What about all those people? Where would everyone go?”

“Don’t know. They’re supposed to announce something tomorrow. The CEO has scheduled a big meeting first thing in the morning for all shifts to tell us something.”

“It’s probably just a ploy by the city to scare the state to hand over the money. I doubt if the state is willing to leave a few hundred thousand people without medical care. That little private hospital on the north side can’t replace us. It’s not big enough and they don’t take anyone without insurance.”

“It sounds scary. I hate the way politicians play with people’s lives to prove a point,” Sally said.

“We’ll see in the morning,” Maria replied. “Right now, I need to suit up for my shift.”

Maria worked her entire shift worrying about the rumor. In the past, she would have dismissed it as a political ploy. Today, she wasn’t too sure. Conditions in the city had been going downhill since they came back from the farm. She couldn’t tell if more businesses had closed in the last two weeks or she had just started noticing things she didn’t pay attention to before now. Around the hospital, a large number of closed signs on the businesses in the strip centers had started appearing. She and a group of nurses tried to go out for lunch one day and their favorite restaurant had closed down. They tried to find another one in the area, but the closest place to eat was now more than ten miles away.

“Hi, Sweetie,” Maria said to Steve when she walked into her house that evening. “I’ve got some news.”

“Hi, yourself. What’s up?”

“A big rumor at the hospital today. Everyone thinks they are shutting us down.”

“What? How can they shut you down? How sure are you about this rumor?”

“Not very. There’s a big meeting in the morning to talk about something. Rumor has it, they will announce the closing tomorrow.”

“Probably just a scare tactic to get the state to cough up the money. They’ll announce the closure and start blaming the state for all the medical gaps in the area. The state will come up with emergency funding to keep you in business for another year.”

“You’re probably right. I told the girls the same thing this morning. I think it’s just a ploy by the city. I hate them using us like that. Why doesn’t the state or the feds just cough up the money like they do every year? It’s not like we don’t need it. We didn’t have any huge donations this year to keep us going.”

“See, there you go. You believe the same thing I do. Didn’t they try the same thing two years ago? Announced a possible shutdown and forced the state to hand over money before anyone lost their jobs or the place shut down. I bet tomorrow’s meeting is to tell you not to worry and the rumor is just to scare the state.”

“Let’s hope so. I can’t imagine what we’ll do if I lose my job. It’s not like there’s another hospital I can go to and find another job. The only other one in this area is that small private one up north. They won’t be hiring anyone.”

“Don’t you think they will be busy with all the extra patients if you close down and hire new people?”

“No. They only take people with insurance and who pay a yearly subscription fee. They won’t let anyone else in their doors. You have to be a member. Very few of our patients would be able to go there. Most of them don’t have insurance and can’t afford to pay anything. Without us, they are in trouble.”

“Membership to a hospital? Who would have ever thought it would come to that?”

The next morning, Maria and her shift reported to the large meeting hall to find out what was going on. “Ok,” the CEO of the hospital said to start the meeting. “The rumor you all heard yesterday about us closing down is true. The city informed me two days ago that they couldn’t afford to keep us open. The city is broke and will be shutting down most of the services it provides over the next month. For those who think this is the same political ploy the city did a few years ago, it’s not. Even if the city got their annual grants, they still couldn’t keep us open. They would have to get three or four times what they usually do. As it is, they can’t even get a fourth of the normal grant let alone four times the amount.”

Pandemonium broke out. “When are we shutting down? What do you mean shutting down city services? What about the patients?” Question after question was shouted at the CEO. He stood there for a few minutes trying to restore order before continuing on with his announcement.

“If you’ll let me finish many of your questions will be answered. The remaining questions will be answered during a press conference given by the mayor at noon today. We will stream the conference to all stations so everyone can hear what he says. Work it out with your leads on how you will watch the press conference.”

The CEO went on to describe the plan he created to shut down the hospital. The hospital will stop taking in any new patients as of today. No more non-emergency surgeries will be scheduled and most of the surgical rooms will close this week. Next week, they will start consolidating patients to a limited number of floors and releasing those who can go home or to another hospital on their own. In two weeks, the emergency room will close and ambulance service will stop. Any remaining surgical rooms would also be closed as well as any departments still open to serve the ER. Three weeks from now, we will transfer all remaining patients to Houston and close down the floors. We will be completely shut down by the middle of next month.”

“Why so fast? Don’t we have money to stay open any longer? Isn’t there donation money we can use?” someone shouted.

“It does seem fast. I can tell you I learned yesterday the city has been broke for over four months. The mayor managed to get a small emergency grant to make payroll, but nothing else. He didn’t want to tell anyone because he thought a miracle would happen and he could get another grant to keep the city going. He’s saying now that it never happened. We are broke and the city only has enough money to make one more payroll. As of noon, 95% of the city workers will be furloughed and given one last paycheck and the city will declare insolvency. All of our donations have been spent on equipment and improvements. We do not have enough money in our accounts to keep us running for very long without money from the city.”

A loud murmur rose. The CEO ignored it and continued, “As for city services, more will be said at noon. I heard the fire departments and police departments will remain at reduced staffing as long as possible. We are the only other department that will not be closed down today. They are allowing us to close down over the next four weeks instead of today because of patient care. A few of our departments will be closed down today along with the rest of the city. Some of you will be furloughed by the end of the day if your department is not deemed critical or doesn’t have patients. Other staff members will be let go as your department closes down. I’ve only been given two days to prepare for this closing with upper management and we’ve done what we could at this point. Some mistakes will be made, but hopefully no lives will be lost in this hospital during the shutdown process. I will give you a warning before I leave. We only have enough money left in our bank accounts for the next month. Cash your paychecks as soon as you get them. Don’t hold onto them or you’ll find yourself with a check drawn on a closed account.”

The CEO had to step back from the microphone and took a moment to wipe his eyes. He took a big breath and stepped back up to the microphone. “I’m sorry there is nothing more I can do. This caught me by surprise just like the rest of you. I believed the mayor when he assured the city departments he would work something out. There doesn’t seem to be anything left out there to keep this city on its feet and no one is coming to our rescue this time. We’ve never been able to keep the city and this hospital afloat without grants from the federal government and the state. The grants have dried up due to the recession. I doubt if I can come up with anymore donations to keep this place running. The recession has hit our sponsors hard and they’ve stopped giving us money. I hate this as much as most of you do. I don’t have a clue what all the poor people in this area are going to do for medical care and it bothers me. Our country has taken a step back and is no longer able to take care of its citizens. We are not living in the same America we are used to living in. Pray for all those poor people and the suffering they are about to go through because those idiots in Washington can’t get their shit together and solve anything.”

The CEO stopped and looked around at the group of people before him. “Your department heads will be given a phase-out timeline after the meeting. They will get with each of you and give you a date you will be furloughed. Jobs and seniority will count for something, but not much. Some of you will be asked to move around until the last patient is gone because of your skills. Once again, I’m very sorry and wish all of you the best of luck.”

Most of the hospital staff stood there in shock as the CEO left the room. He didn’t stop and talk to anyone as he usually did after holding a group meeting. Small groups of staff started leaving the room and going back to their jobs. Those in departments with no patients or who didn’t provide long-term or emergency care knew they would lose their jobs today. Others crowded together and sought out their department heads. Maria didn’t talk to anyone. She just left the room and called her husband.

“It’s true,” she said as Steve answered the phone.

“What’s true?”

“They’re shutting us down. Some departments will close today others will close down over the next month. The mayor is making a big announcement today about the city being insolvent. Mr. Johnson said they are furloughing 95% of the city workers at noon. A few fire departments and police will be left, but nothing else. We have a month because of private donations and the fact we need to do something with our patients.”

“What? Are you serious? Why haven’t they said anything about being broke? Are you sure this isn’t a ploy? Cities don’t shut down. They just start collecting more taxes or fees or something, but they always stay in business. How can you shut down a city?”

“Mr. Johnson said the city ran out of money four months ago. They mayor got a small grant to make payroll, but nothing else. All other grants have disappeared.”

“I don’t believe this. I still think it’s a ploy.”

“It’s a damn stupid ploy then. People are packing their things and telling each other goodbye. I have to go and figure out how long I have a job. Make sure you watch the news at lunch.”

“Ok, Sweetie. You okay?”

“For now. I guess I’m still in a bit of shock. I’ll probably break down later.”

Like the hospital CEO said during the announcement, the city did declare insolvency at noon. Almost all of the city employees were furloughed and all city services shut down except for three fire houses and two police stations. The city kept on thirty officers and forty fire fighters for the time being. The mayor announced a deal with the sheriff’s department to take over law enforcement coverage for the city and the remaining police officers would leave once the county took over. The four hundred thousand citizens of Corpus Christi soon found out their once great city was no longer sustainable and would only exist in name as of noon. Thousands left the city over the next few weeks. Some left for other Texas cities to find jobs and start new lives. Some went back to Mexico to live with relatives.

Due to her skills and seniority, Maria found out she would be one of the last ones to leave the hospital. Like the rest of the staff left at the hospital, she was no longer assigned to a particular department and didn’t have a regular schedule. She worked when and where she was needed and often filled in at the last minute when a department needed help.

“Maria,” Sally said over the phone. “You have to come in and help cover the emergency room.”

“What’s going on?”

“We only have a skeleton crew here and there seems to be a gang fight going on. We’ve gotten twenty critical gunshot wounds in the past hour. We need your help. There are people everywhere waiting for someone to treat them.”

“I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

When Maria arrived at the hospital, she found a war zone. The emergency room was filled with gang members with gunshot wounds and knife wounds. It took every security guard in the hospital to keep the two different gangs from continuing the fight in the ER. There were dozens of innocent people, who were caught in the cross-fire, covering every square inch of the first floor. Maria estimated there were at least two hundred people lining the hallways. She scrubbed up and started helping where she could. The ER remained crowded for twenty straight hours before the last patient was treated and released. Thirty people died during those twenty hours. She knew more would die since they couldn’t admit anyone except the most serious cases. The hospital was closing and if you weren’t critical, you had to recover at home.

“Damn. That was like working in a war zone. Where did all these people come from?”

“You live up north?” one of her coworkers asked.

“Yes.”

“There’s been a small gang war going on the southeast side ever since the city shut down. From what I hear, drug gangs from Mexico are trying to take over as much of the city as they can before someone steps in and tries to stop them. I think they want to use us as a shipping point to the rest of the U.S. and two gangs have started fighting each other for control.”

“Why isn’t there anything in the news about it?”

“What news. Haven’t you seen the news lately?”

“No,” Maria admitted. “I’ve been here more than at home the last few weeks.”

“The news is acting like nothing is wrong. It’s like they are replaying news stories from years ago so no one will know the truth. Two days ago, they spent ten minutes on a cheer group from the north side while I hid in my bathroom during a gun fight up the street from me. Most of my neighbors have started putting sandbags around their homes to keep stray bullets from killing them while they sleep. We’ve started sleeping on the floor hoping any bullet will pass over us.”

“I had no idea. We don’t have anything like that in the north.”

“Just wait, you will. The fights seem to be moving further into the city. We didn’t have anything last week and now, it’s a war zone two miles away. Our streets have dead bodies covering them each night.”

“Do you need to stay with us?”

“No. Thank you for the offer. Today is my last day here. I’m cashing my paycheck as soon as I can and we’re leaving the city tomorrow morning.”

“Where are you going?”

“My parent’s house in a small town outside of Monterrey. It seems like all the Mexican cartels are here and Mexico is safe. My parents told me they don’t have any problems down there.”

“I’m glad you have somewhere to go. I hope you’ll be safe.”

“You should leave this place as soon as you can.”

“I have two more weeks left. I’ll be fine until then.”

“Still, you should talk to your husband and leave. It’s no longer safe here. Corpus Christi has been abandoned by the state and the federal government. It’s like we don’t exist.”

“I’m starting to think the same. I’ve never thought a city in America would come to this. Do we even have a government anymore?”

“Watch the news tonight. Thirty people died in gang warfare in an American city and I bet you won’t see a thing about it on any of the news channels. It will be like last night never happened. Someone is censoring the news and no one outside of this city will know about what’s going on here.”

Maria stared at Isobel and wondered if she was right. Was there something going on? Was someone censoring the news and trying to hide the actual state of the economy? Everything Mark and Kelly talked to them about during Thanksgiving came rushing back to her. “Oh my god, they were right. The world’s melting down. I’ve got to talk to Steve when I get home. We have to leave here and go to Madill. “