Grady Memorial Hospital

From SuspireWiki

Renown: 4

Description

Towering over the surrounding buildings like a castle from a Mary Shelly novel, the cracked, dirty grey façade of Grady Memorial Hospital seems about to collapse under its own weight, held up by hope and sheer ennui. Thirty years ago, the Hospital was the premier medical facility in the area, with the highest technology, the best-trained staff, and access to all the funding they need. Things have changed.

The building has visibly aged poorly, with long cracks running up the stucco on the outside, and a seeming ever-present film of dirt and grime that there are simply not enough Puerto Rican custodians to clean. Even though Grady Memorial provides metro Atlanta its only Level 1 trauma center, as well as a major burn unit and clinics for AIDS and sickle cell anemia, it is dramatically under-funded, with no changes in sight. It owes enough bills that it is not inconceivable that it could close any day now.

Of course, when you have no money, corners tend to get cut. The aforementioned grime is one such example – the custodian staff is at about 25% of what it should be for a facility that size, every doctor is working shifts that range from 12 to 18 hours (depending on the day and the needs placed on the individuals), they are not above mildly skimping of prescriptions and medications, and the general apathy toward anything that is not a life-threatening condition is overwhelming.

What is bad for the hospital is good for Kindred, though. Tired doctors are more then willing to do favors and write bogus prescriptions in exchange for someone to run errands they don’t have time for or hook them up with their much-needed cocaine fix. The nighttime security is so underpaid that virtually anything can go unnoticed for a price, and the custodians are likewise lax about letting people in the back door and loaning out their keys for a bit of grease in their palms. It’s not that the people here are morally corrupt, but when the hospital is over $40 million in debt and everyone is overworked and underpaid, any chance at a 10 minute nap or a little extra pay is something to take.

Size, Location, and Security

Size 5 (towering complex and basement, huge lot), Location 5, Security 1 (lax guards, underpaid staff)

Benefits

Minor

You’re in good with the bottom-rung people, and you’ve managed to ingratiate yourself into the system. You have access to pretty much the entire hospital through the custodians, and can easily bribe a security guard to not patrol a section of the hospital for a while.

+1 Medicine, 5 vitae worth of blood available once a month.

Sizable

You know the desk nurses, now, and what’s more, you have “access” to all the patient files and records of what goes on at the hospital. Very little happens that escapes your attention.

+2 Medicine, 5 vitae worth of blood available once a month, Contacts (Health), +1 Computers

Uncontested

There isn’t a doctor in the joint that doesn’t like seeing your face, since it means their lives just got easier. You pretty much have the run of the joint, so long as you keep the appropriate wheels greased, and can even sleep out the day in the morgue if you’re in a pinch.

+3 Medicine, 10 vitae worth of blood available once a month, Contacts (Health), +1 Computers, secure haven once a month (size 0, security 5, location 0), can get 5 doses of any drug used in a hospital once per month for 50% of the market price, gain access to highly specialized governmental health database, +1 Dice on Health-based influence rolls once per week