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ALL IN A DAY'S WORK
appropriately, securing their areas while looking for what set off the alarm.
When I get to the office area, I find out the alarm box was pulled by a 4year-old patient. The parents think this is funny until 2 fire trucks and 3
ambulances show up. I run to the alarm panel and reset the system, call
the security company and then remember the alarm turns off the air
conditioning system. I scramble to the roof to access the human interface panel and turn the air back on before the surgeons melt.
• 4 p.m. Once a month, our safety officer, Hugh, or I start the generator.
All our patients have left, so this is as good a time as any. I like cranking
up this beast. If I could put wheels on this facility, I think I could drive
the whole building around town.
• 5 p.m. The office is closed, and the staff has gone. The phone continues to ring. I schedule a case and answer some billing questions as best I can. Vincent, our housekeeper, calls to tell me he had an accident en route and is headed to the ER.
I break down all the boxes, collect most of the waste and take the trash out to the dumpster. If I call everyone in a little early, we can terminally clean the ORs and be ready to start cases at 7 a.m.
• 6 p.m. I look at my to-do list. Well, I knocked out 3 items. When I get home I turn on the computer and answer a few e-mails, polish up a financial report and kiss the wife goodnight. The next morning I get an urgent phone call from the CS manager, housekeeping, surgery, nurse Debora. "We have a true emergency," she says. "The coffee maker is broken. Can you stop and get some Starbucks coffee on the way in?" OSM
Mr. Whitener (andywhunts@aol.com) is the administrator of the Gainesville (Ga.) Surgery Center.
— Andy Whitener, MSPT, MBA
