This is a series of one shots based on Pixelberry's Open Heart, featuring Dr. Ethan Ramsey and Dr. Cassie Valentine. The stories follow canon to a certain extent but diverge after book 1. In this AU, there is no trip to the Amazon and no need for a...
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All stories below are mostly canon divergent and reimagined as opposed to rewrites, with nods to key events in books 2 and 3.
Premise: Ethan and Cassie decide to proceed with a relationship after her ethics trial at the end of book 1. They originally keep it a secret, but eventually let their family and friends and then everyone else know. Set in the second and third year of residency, but there's no background plot of Edenbrook closing or being bought by Bloom.
Organized chronologically, but all are written as one shots. (I have a lot more stories to tell though for this time period, so stories are being added all the time.)
Reality or just exaggerating?
Teaching hospitals like Edenbrook don't rely on state funding only. They get Medicaid funding, research grants, federal money, indirect medical education funding and money from insurance companies for procedures, etc. They have huge budgets but also charge a lot more for procedures because of the perceived quality of care as they attract the brightest new doctors and attendings.
We know that it's a prestigious hospital and that they are known for their research facilities and advancements as Elijah came there for that purpose. Research grants are provided by pharmaceutical companies, universities and other large organizations. Part of the grant is used for administrative purposes at the hospital's discretion. We're talking millions of dollars annually and committed for 3-5 years.
The prestige of research and of its physicians is also how these hospitals attract large donors on a long term basis, and not just short term. It's usually charitable foundations that have committed to a multi-year pledge.
The hospital would've had to have been financially mismanaged for 10 years or so for it to be in such dire straits as to shut down rather than restructure its funding and find alternate sources of revenue. Restructuring would have been easier anyway as they could shut down low performing departments and save millions in costs.
In the case it did happen due to financial mismanagement, the entire board of directors would have been liable for shirking their fiduciary duties.
So Edenbrook losing its state funding and having to shut down was extremely unrealistic as to be impossible.
In my one shots, I've largely ignored the whole Edenbrook shutdown sub plot because I think it's ludicrous and have chosen to not include it in my stories. And if it doesn't shut down, there's no Bloom.
