Country Doctor (2025) Movie Script
1
[birds chirping]
[light, mellow music playing]
[cows mooing]
[gentle, mellow music continues]
[indistinct]
[man] Okay.
We got everything we need?
Okay.
They about halfway got
your heart straightened up.
Yes, sir, they got me tuned up,
and I feel better than I ever
felt when they got done tuning.
[Dr. Graham] Wilber's told me
some of the funniest things
I've ever heard in my life.
- So, he's a pretty witty guy.
- [laughs]
We have a good laugh
once in a while.
That's true. Thank you.
[Dr. Graham] I think that's
looking a whole lot better.
This gentleman was the preacher
of this church for 40 years
and they need a lot of help.
He's gotten demented
and, uh, she's got Parkinson's.
Now just turn around.
I don't see
a whole lot of tremors.
Maybe you're gaining
some strength.
And we still have
physical therapy coming in?
- Yes.
- Okay.
You have all your medications
that you need?
I've got some I'm gonna call in
here in just a little bit.
Pain medicine's like
any other medicine,
if you use it properly.
It's giving you
some quality of life.
- Oh, yes.
- But I wanted to see
what would happen
if some of your side effects...
Neurological side effects might
go away if we cut that back.
So, you'll have to let me know.
If it's not enough,
we can go back to where we were.
Okay. Sounds good.
[Dr. Graham] Okay.
I'll just be tough.
[Dr. Graham]
That's it. Be tough.
I think we've got
everything we can do,
at least at this point.
I'm probably gonna need
some more blood work
somewhere down the road.
George, I think we have...
Hopefully we've got you set up
with a neurologist
sometime this week.
- [George] Yes, the 10th.
- Okay, very good.
I appreciate it.
Good to see you all.
- We love you.
- Love you, too.
- Love you, George.
- Doc. [indistinct]
- Talk to you later.
- Love you.
He's one of the few doctors
that'll make a house call.
[light, mellow music playing]
This guy goes to the doctor
and the nurse goes in and says,
"Hey, Doc, we got a man out here
thinks he's invisible."
He said, "Well, tell him
I can't see him today."
[laughs]
- You gotta laugh at that.
- [both laugh]
Yeah, that's just bad,
but I like telling jokes.
[Dr. Graham] Fairfax is a
little rural town in Oklahoma.
Socioeconomically, it's
a little bit low on the scale.
We've been devastated
by two tornadoes.
Downtown is really torn up.
Hospital almost closed.
Our hospital has been
on the verge of closed
probably ten times
over the last 40 years.
Buyers change,
the people that run it change,
but the people are still sick
and the people that still do
the work don't change.
- Do you have enough food to eat?
- No.
Okay. So, you have to eat
bologna sandwiches
because that's all
you can really afford.
Gotta get off salt.
You gotta lose some weight.
You know, if this doesn't get
better than this,
another ten years, you're
gonna have lots of trouble.
Are you weak, tired,
fatigued, feel bad?
- Yeah, I just wanna die.
- Okay.
I do. I can't stand it, Doc.
I can't do it no more.
You think it's because
of these infective areas
you've had in the past.
The last time I had 'em,
I... when I became septic...
When I became septic last time,
I feel... I feel the same way.
- Okay.
- I just, yeah.
Did you have any temperature?
No temp today?
- Uh-uh.
- Okay.
Yeah, I remember those
you had years ago.
The only thing that seems
to work is, um,
if they put me in hospital
and do IV antibiotics.
And you're certainly gonna need
some help with that.
And you don't have any
medical coverage at all, do you?
- No. No.
- Okay.
- God bless you.
- Thank you.
[Dr. Graham]
She's got these staph sores
pretty much all over.
I think she may be septic.
Would you mind if we went ahead
and sent her out?
And take a look at her and...
And if we... if she needs help,
go ahead and get her sent to
Tulsa or whatever we need to do.
Sure.
[Dr. Graham] While we were
in the hospital today,
I come out, and a patient,
and I'm pretty sure
I know who it is,
they try to pay you
in any way they can.
So, I've got homegrown tomatoes,
okra that looks just fabulous,
corn on the cob...
Squash. How 'bout that?
You know, sometimes stuff like
that's better than money anyway.
And so, it just makes my day.
Darlene and I will get this
pretty soon,
and get it refrigerated.
Those are just beautiful.
Aren't those beautiful?
See, this is his salary
for the month.
[laughs]
[mellow music playing]
[Dr. Graham] I was raised
on an Otoe Indian reservation
in Red Rock, Oklahoma.
We had no indoor facilities.
My stepfather was an alcoholic
who physically, emotionally,
and sexually abused us,
mostly to my sisters.
I am sorry
I was not brave enough
when I was a child
to do something
for the trauma he caused.
While in high school
in Marland, Oklahoma,
my junior year, my mother went
into chronic renal failure,
secondary to
polycystic kidney disease.
The only way
for her to do dialysis
was for one of us children
to go to Oklahoma City
and learn to do dialysis
and to do it in our home.
I was not qualified
by any means,
but she trusted me.
I learned from that.
It made me stronger.
Each one of these things
in life,
the negative things in life,
you gotta take it
and learn from it.
I learned from being poor.
I learned from being hungry.
I've had two kidney transplants
and I've been as sick
as a lot of the patients
I've ever taken care of.
- Hi, Doctor, how are you?
- Good morning.
Good morning, how's everybody?
[patient] Am I behaving myself?
- You're just doing wonderful.
- Well, okay.
We'll hold a little pressure,
put a Neosporin bandage on it.
Be a little sting.
- Not a little sting.
- That wasn't too bad, was it?
- That's a big sting.
- All right, sorry about that.
Take care of yourself.
- Appreciate you.
- All righty.
Nelson, how're you doing?
I'll be here a couple days
and then I'll...
Now, you think
you're gon' be able to handle
both of those prostheses?
Yeah, I'll be able
to get around.
- You will, you think? Good.
- Yeah.
Your hairdresser's doing
an awful good job on you today.
- Oh, yeah, she does.
- That's good. You look good.
You look better than you've
looked in a long time.
[man] He's strong, though.
His upper body's really strong,
so he can use a walker.
I guess we can send him home
with home health.
Is that what we're gonna do?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
How you feeling?
How's your back?
How's your pain?
About nine.
Constantly.
[Dr. Graham] Okay.
And how are we doing with that?
Gritting my teeth and going on.
Do you want to go back over
to see one of the specialists
and get the epidural injections
again?
- No. No, I'm through.
- Nothing like that?
You're just happy to be right
there in Ralston, Oklahoma,
- doing what you do?
- Waiting to die.
- That's what I'm doin'.
- No, you're not.
You're not, you're not thinking
suicide?
Probably not.
- Nah.
- I see the good in you, Everett.
I know the good things
you've done.
I like you.
I mean, you're a likable person.
You gotta just open back up
and try to be yourself.
Don't quit like that.
We're gonna die soon enough.
One thing I know about is
there's going to be pain
and suffering in our lives
and we are all gonna die.
It's a hundred percent.
Make it... as much of it
as you can.
It's a gift God gave you.
Yeah.
[Dr. Graham] Lighten up.
[woman laughs]
I knew I needed to get
you settled down.
Okay, very good.
- I will see you in a month.
- Alright.
- Thank you. You're a good man.
- Bye-bye.
- Make him be good to you.
- I will.
[indistinct chatter]
Good morning.
How's he doing today?
- He's hanging in there.
- He's kind of about the same?
Morning, George.
Good morning.
[Jan] He's getting awfully cold
it seems to me.
[Dr. Graham] He's having
some apneic spells
and it's kind of getting
shallower, isn't he?
[Jan speaking indistinctly]
Still pretty irregular.
I... I appreciate his life.
Certainly, the Lord's gonna be
proud to welcome him home.
[shallow breathing]
[Jan] We've all told him
that it's okay.
We've all told him goodbye.
I love you.
[somber music playing]
[Dr. Graham]
In my last six months,
I've lost four or five patients.
When they die, it just leaves
a little hole in your heart.
[reporter] Rural hospitals
are being exploited
by some healthcare executives.
[reporter 2] A judge in Oklahoma
took away ownership
of Fairfax Community Hospital
from entities owned
by Jorge Perez.
[reporter 3]
Perez has been named
in at least one federal lawsuit
accusing him
of illegal billing practices.
[reporter 4] According
to bankruptcy filings,
the hospital is trying
to recover more than $3 million
it claims Perez was wired
fraudulently.
[reporter 5] Court filings
in a case involving
another Perez hospital in Kansas
indicate Perez's companies
are being investigated
by the Department of Justice.
[woman] We started realizing
that things was not going right.
Trying to get orders in, trying
to get meds in that we needed.
And, uh, then when we missed
the paycheck,
uh, that... you know,
we knew it was in trouble.
Townspeople in Fairfax
are doing all they can
to make sure that their hospital
stays open.
Through legal issues
and no paychecks,
these employees just keep
showing up for work.
[woman] The previous company
that had a hold of us,
it took away our...
You know, our ability
to care for these patients,
you know, as...
As best as we could
because of lack of supplies.
Do you guys want supplies,
or do you guys want oxygen?
Vendors were like, "Okay,
I'm so sorry to do this to you,
but we're gonna have
to cut you off."
We had a lot of people
that volunteered their time.
It's really a credit to them.
That's the reason
the hospital is still open,
is these people donated
their time
to continue to keep
the hospital running.
[Dr. Graham] You gotta realize,
most of these people
were not making
very good salary,
and were living
off what they made,
so it's pretty devastating.
[woman] We got
the first paycheck,
then the other one was late
for like three months.
And we finally got another one,
then we didn't get no more
at all.
It just stopped.
The audacity that these people
made her go without pay
for five paychecks
is just atrocious
and it is not right.
[tearfully] I don't even know
if my family would make it
somewhere else if it wasn't
for this hospital being here.
[sniffles]
And so, we just kept
the door open,
knowing that
if we ever close it,
Medicare would... we-we would not
be allowed to reopen.
[somber music playing]
The last two or three years
in Oklahoma,
we've had four or five
rural hospitals close.
In the last five or six years
in-in rural America,
there's been approximately
a hundred close.
We have a crisis
in rural America.
I'll be meeting with the state
legislature this week.
I hope to get to talk to them
about it.
This is an opportunity
as I see it now
that maybe we can get
some recognition all over
about what we're fighting
every day, and we need help.
How are things going in Fairfax?
- Well... a little tough.
- Uh-huh.
Uh, we... uh, it's...
Hospital still in flux?
- Uh, yeah, very much so.
- Okay.
And, you know,
now other hospitals
are involved in Oklahoma.
- It's just a disaster out there.
- Right.
Yeah, let us know if there's
anything that we can do to help.
We'll be glad to do all we can.
Well, sometimes you feel
like you're by yourself and...
We have... we have a lot
of people in this building
that represent
different constituents
around rural Oklahoma,
that this is
a very top priority.
Do you realize out in rural
America and rural Oklahoma,
how many poor, indigent folks
there are?
You know, we're 48th in the
country with health outcomes.
And-and I'm working
right now on a bill
that will cut down
secondhand smoke
in bars and in other places...
Workplaces around the state.
The one bill that you have going
about the Medicare?
Um, there's some issues
that scares us
about the full Medicaid
expansion, you know,
as far as, you know, being
on the string for so much money.
What's the alternative
to this bill?
It's not my ball of wax,
and so I lean heavily on
the experts in that field. So...
We start getting this money
from the federal government,
and then the federal government
goes, "Oh, we're cutting that."
Then it's back
on the... the state
to continue the funding.
But he evidently hasn't studied
the problems we're having
- in rural Oklahoma.
- Right.
Hospitals closing.
Uh, it's just, uh, ridiculous
what we're having to go through
to keep those doors open.
[solemn music playing]
All of us have been concerned
about this bidding process.
Who's gonna bid on the hospital
and what are their motives?
And we've been told by people
who know more about this than us
that there are people who, uh,
look for these kinds
of opportunities to do, uh,
predatory, uh, financing.
I'm just very concerned
that we don't have
what I consider to be
credible bidders.
Um, and I... and I mean
credible, not financially,
but in terms of being concerned
about our community.
And so, if you're not able
to tell me that today,
then I will be at the auction
in, um, North Carolina,
and I probably will want
to at least know then.
Rural Wellness Fairfax, Inc.
And the only information we have
is it's a Dr. Elizabeth Pusey,
out of, um, California.
No other information.
One Cura Wellness, Inc.,
which is First Physicians,
which has shown interest before.
And the Transcendental Union
with Love and Spiritual
Advancement.
Well, hopefully, you know,
we can put some leverage,
keep somebody from just scamming
the place to get money
and closing us down.
- Wish we were in charge of that.
- Well, I know.
Yeah, we wish
we were, too, but...
- We're not in charge of much.
- Yeah.
We're just the repository
of a lot of information
and misinformation.
[both laugh]
[softly] So, this is Miss-chief.
[light music playing]
[Dr. Graham] Hopefully,
by the 19th of December
in the bankruptcy court,
we will have a bidder
that will take us
and maybe we can move on.
If not, then we probably
won't survive.
[Carol] I appreciate your time.
And we will be seeing you.
- [Carol laughs]
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- Thank you.
[Dr. Graham]
And I believe the trustee
is gonna do exactly
what he told me,
and that is, "I may not take
the highest bidder.
I am gonna take the one that
will be best for your community
and best for your hospital."
[man] I understand
that there are 1200
of these rural hospitals
that are on the throes
of going out of business.
We're just in it for, um,
the "F, F, and E"...
Furniture, fixture,
and equipment,
uh, which will allow
these new people coming in
to completely empty
the hospital out.
Uh, we sell to some
of the third-world countries.
They're bidding first
on Fairfax, and so we're...
stressfully waiting
for the next round of bidding.
And it's at $1,600,000.
If this group gets it
and manages us
into these huge losses
and then walks away,
we're closed again.
It is so stressful.
[sighs]
[solemn music playing]
They just made
the, uh, final successful bid
for the Fairfax
Community Hospital,
- and it's, uh, Rural Wellness...
- Fairfax, Inc.
Fairfax, Inc.
And it's to be managed
by First Physicians? Is that...
- Correct.
- That were in the room, also.
So, that's who is the lead horse
right now, and probably will be.
-Subject to...
-Subject to approval
- by the court.
- The court. Exactly.
These are the only people
of all of the people
that we knew were bidding
that never returned
a phone call to us
and that we have
no information about.
I have been told
that there are companies
whose management philosophy is
to bill a great deal
for administration,
to get 60% of that reimbursed
by the federal government,
make all your money on
overbilling for administration,
and then when the government
catches on to your game,
walk away and close the doors.
- [exhales]
- [Joe] Yes, Dr. Graham?
- Yes?
- The auction just wrapped up.
[Dr. Graham]
We got some decent news?
Well, I'm afraid not.
Uh, First Physicians had
the winning bid at 2.1 million.
Oh, really?
And he decided that that
would be the very best for us,
is that right?
Well, I don't know that there
was much deciding about that.
All they went on was high bid.
They said, "Oh, yeah, they're
gonna do right by us" and so on,
-but, you know...
-Oh, okay.
I don't know about that.
Yeah, we're just gonna have
to sit down and, uh,
and talk about it later on
when we have a chance.
- [Carol] Yeah, that's right.
- All right.
Well, we'll-we'll keep in touch.
- Okay, thanks a lot. Take care.
- Uh-huh.
- Bye.
- Bye-bye.
Well, you heard the story.
You're told they're
gonna care about you
and do what the right thing is
for you,
and then base it all on money?
For me, I don't understand.
Uh, I just know the...
the root of all evil
is the love of money.
And, uh, sometimes it's about
getting back to principles.
It's getting back
to being Americans
trying to help each other.
And we just have lost
that thought.
This will be our fourth
management company.
Who knows whether they're people
with good hearts
and like Dr. Graham,
who cares about the community
or people who are
really concerned,
or if they're people making
money on our rural communities,
picking the bones clean,
and walking away?
[solemn music playing]
[man] Yeah, we just, uh...
have to get it ramped up, going.
Mm-hmm.
You have such a viable program,
be nice to have it all
in a more organized place.
Oh, it'll be so nice
to have that.
The local community sometimes
is very suspicious.
They've been burnt in the past.
And, you know, you're coming in
and talking to them
and they're saying,
"Well, no, we wanna continue
to own the hospital."
I'm like, "Well, you know,
I'm looking to buy the hospital,
so, no, you won't own
the hospital anymore.
I would own the hospital.
But to do that,
I'm also going to be taking
and putting investment
into your hospital."
Somehow, I think it's just
the idea of somebody coming in
from outside their community.
But, you know,
the people in their community
haven't been able to figure
this out and solve it.
It's not just enough
to have good intentions.
You've really gotta be able to
make it viable and sustainable.
And for that, you really need
a lot of the business expertise.
[Dr. Graham]
They have begun doing some
of the infrastructure things
that need to be done.
We've just started
the $4.1 million expansion,
and that's how it's progressed
so much.
Well, let's-let's just drive
around the construction
that they're doing here.
[construction vehicle beeping]
That is absolutely amazing.
Is that not amazing?
[gentle music playing]
[woman on speaker]
Mildly ill patients
should be encouraged
to stay home
and contact
their healthcare provider
for guidance regarding testing
and clinical management.
Patients who have
severe symptoms,
such as difficulty breathing,
should seek care immediately.
And older patients
and/or individuals
who have underlying
medical conditions
should contact their physician
early in the course of illness.
- Okay, what's my name?
- [man] Doc Graham.
[Dr. Graham] Okay,
you know where you're at?
- Uh...
- Fairfax Manor.
- Re... rest home?
- Yes!
- Fairfax.
- So far, they're taking
pretty good care of you,
looks to me like.
You had a little pneumonia
going on.
[Darlene] He's been through
two kidney transplants
and his immune system
is suppressed.
We know the risk that he took,
but we had to be there
for these patients.
And, uh...
I support him, I love him,
and I'll be with him
through it all unto the end.
[Dr. Graham] If you can imagine,
gasping for breath
every time you breathe,
and we have nothing to give 'em.
Then... then that's what we're
dealing with with those folks.
Uh, even giving 'em
high volumes of oxygen,
giving 'em all the pain medicine
that we have
and the things for comfort,
it's pretty devastating
to watch 'em die
and not be able to do
anything with it.
[birds chirping]
One time here
in the nursing home,
every patient we had
had the COVID,
and we lost 15.
Yeah.
What a sad time.
I want to talk
about Nelson Johnson,
and I had the pleasure of
taking care of all that family
in their lifetime,
and it was my honor.
You know, he was
a rough-looking character.
In a wheelchair,
bilateral amputations.
He was somebody that was very...
funny, witty,
and he-he would make bad days
be good.
Well, I'm r-real proud that,
before he passed away,
that we did get him
a bottle of Wild Turkey.
[audience laughs]
And so, that was
his biggest wish,
and I debated about it
quite some time and...
and, uh, thankfully, he did.
I got a phone call
from Bartlesville Hospital
that he had passed away.
Just like the rest
of these people,
and Darlene will tell you,
I had to weep a little bit.
I don't know if I can do enough,
but I'll assure you I will spend
the rest of my life
trying to take care
of these folks.
And when they come
through these doors,
they will have compassion
and love that all of us want.
Thank you very much.
[audience applauds]
Anyone have
anything else to say?
A lot of people don't know
that what he had to put up with
in those COVID units.
It's horrible, y'all.
It's hard work
of everybody trying to.
On Christmas, we had to have
the grandkids come outside
and just wave a picture, happy...
You know,
merry Christmas, Grandma,
and all that kind of stuff.
But it kept people's spirits up.
And it's all kinds of things
like that that keep spirits up.
Everybody just love everybody
and do what you can.
I'm gonna put this back on now.
[audience laughs]
Thank y'all for coming.
This was my sister, Carma,
and she's my younger sister.
She left two boys behind
and my mom.
And this is the only memorial
that she got to have
because when she passed,
nobody could come.
Nobody could, you know,
travel states.
And so, I appreciate this.
- God bless y'all. Yeah.
- Love y'all.
God bless y'all.
[tender, solemn music playing]
As far as our hospital,
I mean, it was ready to close.
We had nothing,
couldn't hardly even feed
the patients.
Small town, desolate,
pleading for help.
[Dr. Pusey] It was starting out
from such a low point.
And I think the more we looked,
the more we kept finding
of things that they didn't have.
But once you start
and once you get involved,
then you can't really walk away.
I was in it, you know?
[Dr. Graham] And things got good
very rapidly.
I mean, infrastructure
was redone.
Uh, new roofs, new generators,
new heating and cooling system.
They built the new wing,
all new equipment,
state-of-the-art equipment,
beds that were 25,000 apiece.
And just this week,
they just put in
a brand-new,
64-slice CT scanner.
[indistinct chatter]
We're starting to do MRIs
and some other things,
so it's a...
Kind of a big city hospital
in a small town.
You go from a hospital
with a door just propped open
with a brick
to a nice, new, beautiful,
state-of-the-art facility
that's full.
Be sure I got copies of those,
if you would.
- Yes, sir.
- Going over to the clinic.
Thank you. I appreciate you.
Appreciate you, too, Doc.
See you later.
And let's do one more
where you walk off.
- All right.
- And if you can give me
your best, like, used car
salesman energy on this one.
Hi, I'm Dr. Elizabeth Pusey.
Welcome to Rural Wellness
Fairfax Hospital.
I'm excited to show you
our new wing.
[Joe] Part of their
business plan is to retain
or hire a public relations firm.
And so, their public relations
firm, you know, generates
these, you know, really nice,
po-positive stories
and send 'em out
as press releases.
We're not gonna,
you know, operate
as a public relations firm.
We're a newspaper.
We've always done
everything together.
And it seems like
we're held back.
I'm here to figure out
how we can help do that.
[Joe] We'd be happy to talk to
them if they would talk to us.
[Carol] Well, and...
But there is a caveat.
The idea that only
positive things can be said
is something that no journalist
will agree to.
I wouldn't have done that
for Perez.
I didn't do that for him.
I won't do that for anyone.
Are they gonna leave us
high and dry
like some of the other places,
or all the other places did?
-And so...
-[Joe] We don't know.
We don't know. But I don't know
how they would sink
eight million bucks in a place
and be willing to just pull up
and leave it.
They're almost like
they're afraid
that we're gonna say
something bad about 'em.
[Carol] They are... they...
I think exactly the thing...
Is what they're afraid of.
[Dr. Graham] I don't have
that thought.
I mean, we all, uh, praise
what they've done for us.
If you're doing great things,
why wouldn't you want me
to put that in the newspaper?
They just...
They're very suspicious
and I would look at 'em and say,
"But if it doesn't work out
and something happens
and I ended up having to walk
away, you still have a roof.
You're starting
from a much better point
than you would've been before."
Okay, sister, now try
to get out of bed.
Remember, go slow.
You're not a fast patient,
you're a sick patient.
- [alarm beeps]
- Please don't get up.
The care team has been called.
I'm looking at putting in
a facility
to be able to handle
heavier patients.
I think that... I...
I really think that's so needed,
and I feel so strongly
about that.
Both my mother and my brother
are heavier people.
They'll be able to go in a sling
up to a track system,
all the way to use the restroom.
It can go into the shower
to give that loved one
the dignity,
and that's such
an important thing
that I really wanted
to bring in here.
We know we're far away
and we need to be able
to draw people
because we're doing
something different
or something more or something
that's going to heal them faster
and it's worth coming.
- Right here. This camera.
- [laughter]
Move in a little closer so...
There we go.
- Got it!
- [cheers]
- [indistinct chatter]
- [mellow music playing]
[Dr. Graham] Rural healthcare
in a small town dictates
how well a town does,
and I know at this time,
we've got building projects,
far as housing.
We've got two or three
new businesses going.
We went from 30 employees
to now we have 115
and we're still looking
for medical personnel.
Salaries are the best
they've ever been,
so nothing of it's been
anything but good.
- Have a good trip from L.A.?
- [Dr. Pusey] Yeah, it's nonstop.
[Dr. Graham] We've been lucky
because another physician
bought the hospital,
but not everybody has
a Cinderella story.
Are they in it
for the long haul?
That is our question
based on this information
and our experience
with people who come in
from the outside
and don't take the time
to develop relationships
in the community.
And that's our concern.
I wish them well.
I hope that their business plan,
whatever that is,
does turn out to make it
suitably profitable for them
to stay here
and keep things open
for the benefit
of the community.
I certainly hope
that's the case.
Even I think if you lost 25
or 30 pounds,
you wouldn't need medication.
- You're doing this to yourself.
- Yeah, I know.
You gotta get some
self-discipline, get it done.
[laughs] I know it.
[Dr. Pusey]
Now it's very popular to say
how more traditional healthcare
fits in with the whole person.
But the country doctor
has always done that.
He was holistic
before there was holistic.
[laughs]
He's all in and there
for his patients
and knows them as whole people,
not just someone
that he sees when they're sick.
I bought a pair
of new tennis shoes
from a drug dealer
the other day.
I don't know what
he had 'em laced with,
but I was tripping
all over the place.
[laughs]
You know why the oyster
wouldn't give up the pearl?
- He was shellfish.
- [slight chuckle]
- You have any chest pain?
- Uh-uh.
- Unusual shortness of breath?
- Uh-uh.
Everything else
seems to be good,
except of course the grieving
that you're having.
I was getting over
the depression.
- Okay.
- Because I met, uh,
this lady at Walmart.
I thought we were gonna
hit it off, but...
it didn't happen.
[Dr. Graham] Well, maybe you're
just trying to replace
that hole in your heart
with somebody else
and not ready yet, you know.
- Yeah.
- So, keep lookin' around.
Wake up every day with hope.
I don't know how you hold it out
from the end anyway.
- That's the way to do it.
- Okay.
- I'm not arguing with that.
- [laughs]
[Dr. Graham] I feel like
I've been a positive influence
as much as I could.
And there's nothing more
than I want people to learn
not only from my life,
but the life
of the little hospital
that was about to go under.
But we didn't quit.
[gentle music playing]
If you notice, there's new...
That's a new emergency room sign
that we just got up
the past week.
And, boy, it really shines
at night,
if you ever get a chance
to look at that.
[cheery music playing]
[birds chirping]
[light, mellow music playing]
[cows mooing]
[gentle, mellow music continues]
[indistinct]
[man] Okay.
We got everything we need?
Okay.
They about halfway got
your heart straightened up.
Yes, sir, they got me tuned up,
and I feel better than I ever
felt when they got done tuning.
[Dr. Graham] Wilber's told me
some of the funniest things
I've ever heard in my life.
- So, he's a pretty witty guy.
- [laughs]
We have a good laugh
once in a while.
That's true. Thank you.
[Dr. Graham] I think that's
looking a whole lot better.
This gentleman was the preacher
of this church for 40 years
and they need a lot of help.
He's gotten demented
and, uh, she's got Parkinson's.
Now just turn around.
I don't see
a whole lot of tremors.
Maybe you're gaining
some strength.
And we still have
physical therapy coming in?
- Yes.
- Okay.
You have all your medications
that you need?
I've got some I'm gonna call in
here in just a little bit.
Pain medicine's like
any other medicine,
if you use it properly.
It's giving you
some quality of life.
- Oh, yes.
- But I wanted to see
what would happen
if some of your side effects...
Neurological side effects might
go away if we cut that back.
So, you'll have to let me know.
If it's not enough,
we can go back to where we were.
Okay. Sounds good.
[Dr. Graham] Okay.
I'll just be tough.
[Dr. Graham]
That's it. Be tough.
I think we've got
everything we can do,
at least at this point.
I'm probably gonna need
some more blood work
somewhere down the road.
George, I think we have...
Hopefully we've got you set up
with a neurologist
sometime this week.
- [George] Yes, the 10th.
- Okay, very good.
I appreciate it.
Good to see you all.
- We love you.
- Love you, too.
- Love you, George.
- Doc. [indistinct]
- Talk to you later.
- Love you.
He's one of the few doctors
that'll make a house call.
[light, mellow music playing]
This guy goes to the doctor
and the nurse goes in and says,
"Hey, Doc, we got a man out here
thinks he's invisible."
He said, "Well, tell him
I can't see him today."
[laughs]
- You gotta laugh at that.
- [both laugh]
Yeah, that's just bad,
but I like telling jokes.
[Dr. Graham] Fairfax is a
little rural town in Oklahoma.
Socioeconomically, it's
a little bit low on the scale.
We've been devastated
by two tornadoes.
Downtown is really torn up.
Hospital almost closed.
Our hospital has been
on the verge of closed
probably ten times
over the last 40 years.
Buyers change,
the people that run it change,
but the people are still sick
and the people that still do
the work don't change.
- Do you have enough food to eat?
- No.
Okay. So, you have to eat
bologna sandwiches
because that's all
you can really afford.
Gotta get off salt.
You gotta lose some weight.
You know, if this doesn't get
better than this,
another ten years, you're
gonna have lots of trouble.
Are you weak, tired,
fatigued, feel bad?
- Yeah, I just wanna die.
- Okay.
I do. I can't stand it, Doc.
I can't do it no more.
You think it's because
of these infective areas
you've had in the past.
The last time I had 'em,
I... when I became septic...
When I became septic last time,
I feel... I feel the same way.
- Okay.
- I just, yeah.
Did you have any temperature?
No temp today?
- Uh-uh.
- Okay.
Yeah, I remember those
you had years ago.
The only thing that seems
to work is, um,
if they put me in hospital
and do IV antibiotics.
And you're certainly gonna need
some help with that.
And you don't have any
medical coverage at all, do you?
- No. No.
- Okay.
- God bless you.
- Thank you.
[Dr. Graham]
She's got these staph sores
pretty much all over.
I think she may be septic.
Would you mind if we went ahead
and sent her out?
And take a look at her and...
And if we... if she needs help,
go ahead and get her sent to
Tulsa or whatever we need to do.
Sure.
[Dr. Graham] While we were
in the hospital today,
I come out, and a patient,
and I'm pretty sure
I know who it is,
they try to pay you
in any way they can.
So, I've got homegrown tomatoes,
okra that looks just fabulous,
corn on the cob...
Squash. How 'bout that?
You know, sometimes stuff like
that's better than money anyway.
And so, it just makes my day.
Darlene and I will get this
pretty soon,
and get it refrigerated.
Those are just beautiful.
Aren't those beautiful?
See, this is his salary
for the month.
[laughs]
[mellow music playing]
[Dr. Graham] I was raised
on an Otoe Indian reservation
in Red Rock, Oklahoma.
We had no indoor facilities.
My stepfather was an alcoholic
who physically, emotionally,
and sexually abused us,
mostly to my sisters.
I am sorry
I was not brave enough
when I was a child
to do something
for the trauma he caused.
While in high school
in Marland, Oklahoma,
my junior year, my mother went
into chronic renal failure,
secondary to
polycystic kidney disease.
The only way
for her to do dialysis
was for one of us children
to go to Oklahoma City
and learn to do dialysis
and to do it in our home.
I was not qualified
by any means,
but she trusted me.
I learned from that.
It made me stronger.
Each one of these things
in life,
the negative things in life,
you gotta take it
and learn from it.
I learned from being poor.
I learned from being hungry.
I've had two kidney transplants
and I've been as sick
as a lot of the patients
I've ever taken care of.
- Hi, Doctor, how are you?
- Good morning.
Good morning, how's everybody?
[patient] Am I behaving myself?
- You're just doing wonderful.
- Well, okay.
We'll hold a little pressure,
put a Neosporin bandage on it.
Be a little sting.
- Not a little sting.
- That wasn't too bad, was it?
- That's a big sting.
- All right, sorry about that.
Take care of yourself.
- Appreciate you.
- All righty.
Nelson, how're you doing?
I'll be here a couple days
and then I'll...
Now, you think
you're gon' be able to handle
both of those prostheses?
Yeah, I'll be able
to get around.
- You will, you think? Good.
- Yeah.
Your hairdresser's doing
an awful good job on you today.
- Oh, yeah, she does.
- That's good. You look good.
You look better than you've
looked in a long time.
[man] He's strong, though.
His upper body's really strong,
so he can use a walker.
I guess we can send him home
with home health.
Is that what we're gonna do?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
How you feeling?
How's your back?
How's your pain?
About nine.
Constantly.
[Dr. Graham] Okay.
And how are we doing with that?
Gritting my teeth and going on.
Do you want to go back over
to see one of the specialists
and get the epidural injections
again?
- No. No, I'm through.
- Nothing like that?
You're just happy to be right
there in Ralston, Oklahoma,
- doing what you do?
- Waiting to die.
- That's what I'm doin'.
- No, you're not.
You're not, you're not thinking
suicide?
Probably not.
- Nah.
- I see the good in you, Everett.
I know the good things
you've done.
I like you.
I mean, you're a likable person.
You gotta just open back up
and try to be yourself.
Don't quit like that.
We're gonna die soon enough.
One thing I know about is
there's going to be pain
and suffering in our lives
and we are all gonna die.
It's a hundred percent.
Make it... as much of it
as you can.
It's a gift God gave you.
Yeah.
[Dr. Graham] Lighten up.
[woman laughs]
I knew I needed to get
you settled down.
Okay, very good.
- I will see you in a month.
- Alright.
- Thank you. You're a good man.
- Bye-bye.
- Make him be good to you.
- I will.
[indistinct chatter]
Good morning.
How's he doing today?
- He's hanging in there.
- He's kind of about the same?
Morning, George.
Good morning.
[Jan] He's getting awfully cold
it seems to me.
[Dr. Graham] He's having
some apneic spells
and it's kind of getting
shallower, isn't he?
[Jan speaking indistinctly]
Still pretty irregular.
I... I appreciate his life.
Certainly, the Lord's gonna be
proud to welcome him home.
[shallow breathing]
[Jan] We've all told him
that it's okay.
We've all told him goodbye.
I love you.
[somber music playing]
[Dr. Graham]
In my last six months,
I've lost four or five patients.
When they die, it just leaves
a little hole in your heart.
[reporter] Rural hospitals
are being exploited
by some healthcare executives.
[reporter 2] A judge in Oklahoma
took away ownership
of Fairfax Community Hospital
from entities owned
by Jorge Perez.
[reporter 3]
Perez has been named
in at least one federal lawsuit
accusing him
of illegal billing practices.
[reporter 4] According
to bankruptcy filings,
the hospital is trying
to recover more than $3 million
it claims Perez was wired
fraudulently.
[reporter 5] Court filings
in a case involving
another Perez hospital in Kansas
indicate Perez's companies
are being investigated
by the Department of Justice.
[woman] We started realizing
that things was not going right.
Trying to get orders in, trying
to get meds in that we needed.
And, uh, then when we missed
the paycheck,
uh, that... you know,
we knew it was in trouble.
Townspeople in Fairfax
are doing all they can
to make sure that their hospital
stays open.
Through legal issues
and no paychecks,
these employees just keep
showing up for work.
[woman] The previous company
that had a hold of us,
it took away our...
You know, our ability
to care for these patients,
you know, as...
As best as we could
because of lack of supplies.
Do you guys want supplies,
or do you guys want oxygen?
Vendors were like, "Okay,
I'm so sorry to do this to you,
but we're gonna have
to cut you off."
We had a lot of people
that volunteered their time.
It's really a credit to them.
That's the reason
the hospital is still open,
is these people donated
their time
to continue to keep
the hospital running.
[Dr. Graham] You gotta realize,
most of these people
were not making
very good salary,
and were living
off what they made,
so it's pretty devastating.
[woman] We got
the first paycheck,
then the other one was late
for like three months.
And we finally got another one,
then we didn't get no more
at all.
It just stopped.
The audacity that these people
made her go without pay
for five paychecks
is just atrocious
and it is not right.
[tearfully] I don't even know
if my family would make it
somewhere else if it wasn't
for this hospital being here.
[sniffles]
And so, we just kept
the door open,
knowing that
if we ever close it,
Medicare would... we-we would not
be allowed to reopen.
[somber music playing]
The last two or three years
in Oklahoma,
we've had four or five
rural hospitals close.
In the last five or six years
in-in rural America,
there's been approximately
a hundred close.
We have a crisis
in rural America.
I'll be meeting with the state
legislature this week.
I hope to get to talk to them
about it.
This is an opportunity
as I see it now
that maybe we can get
some recognition all over
about what we're fighting
every day, and we need help.
How are things going in Fairfax?
- Well... a little tough.
- Uh-huh.
Uh, we... uh, it's...
Hospital still in flux?
- Uh, yeah, very much so.
- Okay.
And, you know,
now other hospitals
are involved in Oklahoma.
- It's just a disaster out there.
- Right.
Yeah, let us know if there's
anything that we can do to help.
We'll be glad to do all we can.
Well, sometimes you feel
like you're by yourself and...
We have... we have a lot
of people in this building
that represent
different constituents
around rural Oklahoma,
that this is
a very top priority.
Do you realize out in rural
America and rural Oklahoma,
how many poor, indigent folks
there are?
You know, we're 48th in the
country with health outcomes.
And-and I'm working
right now on a bill
that will cut down
secondhand smoke
in bars and in other places...
Workplaces around the state.
The one bill that you have going
about the Medicare?
Um, there's some issues
that scares us
about the full Medicaid
expansion, you know,
as far as, you know, being
on the string for so much money.
What's the alternative
to this bill?
It's not my ball of wax,
and so I lean heavily on
the experts in that field. So...
We start getting this money
from the federal government,
and then the federal government
goes, "Oh, we're cutting that."
Then it's back
on the... the state
to continue the funding.
But he evidently hasn't studied
the problems we're having
- in rural Oklahoma.
- Right.
Hospitals closing.
Uh, it's just, uh, ridiculous
what we're having to go through
to keep those doors open.
[solemn music playing]
All of us have been concerned
about this bidding process.
Who's gonna bid on the hospital
and what are their motives?
And we've been told by people
who know more about this than us
that there are people who, uh,
look for these kinds
of opportunities to do, uh,
predatory, uh, financing.
I'm just very concerned
that we don't have
what I consider to be
credible bidders.
Um, and I... and I mean
credible, not financially,
but in terms of being concerned
about our community.
And so, if you're not able
to tell me that today,
then I will be at the auction
in, um, North Carolina,
and I probably will want
to at least know then.
Rural Wellness Fairfax, Inc.
And the only information we have
is it's a Dr. Elizabeth Pusey,
out of, um, California.
No other information.
One Cura Wellness, Inc.,
which is First Physicians,
which has shown interest before.
And the Transcendental Union
with Love and Spiritual
Advancement.
Well, hopefully, you know,
we can put some leverage,
keep somebody from just scamming
the place to get money
and closing us down.
- Wish we were in charge of that.
- Well, I know.
Yeah, we wish
we were, too, but...
- We're not in charge of much.
- Yeah.
We're just the repository
of a lot of information
and misinformation.
[both laugh]
[softly] So, this is Miss-chief.
[light music playing]
[Dr. Graham] Hopefully,
by the 19th of December
in the bankruptcy court,
we will have a bidder
that will take us
and maybe we can move on.
If not, then we probably
won't survive.
[Carol] I appreciate your time.
And we will be seeing you.
- [Carol laughs]
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- Thank you.
[Dr. Graham]
And I believe the trustee
is gonna do exactly
what he told me,
and that is, "I may not take
the highest bidder.
I am gonna take the one that
will be best for your community
and best for your hospital."
[man] I understand
that there are 1200
of these rural hospitals
that are on the throes
of going out of business.
We're just in it for, um,
the "F, F, and E"...
Furniture, fixture,
and equipment,
uh, which will allow
these new people coming in
to completely empty
the hospital out.
Uh, we sell to some
of the third-world countries.
They're bidding first
on Fairfax, and so we're...
stressfully waiting
for the next round of bidding.
And it's at $1,600,000.
If this group gets it
and manages us
into these huge losses
and then walks away,
we're closed again.
It is so stressful.
[sighs]
[solemn music playing]
They just made
the, uh, final successful bid
for the Fairfax
Community Hospital,
- and it's, uh, Rural Wellness...
- Fairfax, Inc.
Fairfax, Inc.
And it's to be managed
by First Physicians? Is that...
- Correct.
- That were in the room, also.
So, that's who is the lead horse
right now, and probably will be.
-Subject to...
-Subject to approval
- by the court.
- The court. Exactly.
These are the only people
of all of the people
that we knew were bidding
that never returned
a phone call to us
and that we have
no information about.
I have been told
that there are companies
whose management philosophy is
to bill a great deal
for administration,
to get 60% of that reimbursed
by the federal government,
make all your money on
overbilling for administration,
and then when the government
catches on to your game,
walk away and close the doors.
- [exhales]
- [Joe] Yes, Dr. Graham?
- Yes?
- The auction just wrapped up.
[Dr. Graham]
We got some decent news?
Well, I'm afraid not.
Uh, First Physicians had
the winning bid at 2.1 million.
Oh, really?
And he decided that that
would be the very best for us,
is that right?
Well, I don't know that there
was much deciding about that.
All they went on was high bid.
They said, "Oh, yeah, they're
gonna do right by us" and so on,
-but, you know...
-Oh, okay.
I don't know about that.
Yeah, we're just gonna have
to sit down and, uh,
and talk about it later on
when we have a chance.
- [Carol] Yeah, that's right.
- All right.
Well, we'll-we'll keep in touch.
- Okay, thanks a lot. Take care.
- Uh-huh.
- Bye.
- Bye-bye.
Well, you heard the story.
You're told they're
gonna care about you
and do what the right thing is
for you,
and then base it all on money?
For me, I don't understand.
Uh, I just know the...
the root of all evil
is the love of money.
And, uh, sometimes it's about
getting back to principles.
It's getting back
to being Americans
trying to help each other.
And we just have lost
that thought.
This will be our fourth
management company.
Who knows whether they're people
with good hearts
and like Dr. Graham,
who cares about the community
or people who are
really concerned,
or if they're people making
money on our rural communities,
picking the bones clean,
and walking away?
[solemn music playing]
[man] Yeah, we just, uh...
have to get it ramped up, going.
Mm-hmm.
You have such a viable program,
be nice to have it all
in a more organized place.
Oh, it'll be so nice
to have that.
The local community sometimes
is very suspicious.
They've been burnt in the past.
And, you know, you're coming in
and talking to them
and they're saying,
"Well, no, we wanna continue
to own the hospital."
I'm like, "Well, you know,
I'm looking to buy the hospital,
so, no, you won't own
the hospital anymore.
I would own the hospital.
But to do that,
I'm also going to be taking
and putting investment
into your hospital."
Somehow, I think it's just
the idea of somebody coming in
from outside their community.
But, you know,
the people in their community
haven't been able to figure
this out and solve it.
It's not just enough
to have good intentions.
You've really gotta be able to
make it viable and sustainable.
And for that, you really need
a lot of the business expertise.
[Dr. Graham]
They have begun doing some
of the infrastructure things
that need to be done.
We've just started
the $4.1 million expansion,
and that's how it's progressed
so much.
Well, let's-let's just drive
around the construction
that they're doing here.
[construction vehicle beeping]
That is absolutely amazing.
Is that not amazing?
[gentle music playing]
[woman on speaker]
Mildly ill patients
should be encouraged
to stay home
and contact
their healthcare provider
for guidance regarding testing
and clinical management.
Patients who have
severe symptoms,
such as difficulty breathing,
should seek care immediately.
And older patients
and/or individuals
who have underlying
medical conditions
should contact their physician
early in the course of illness.
- Okay, what's my name?
- [man] Doc Graham.
[Dr. Graham] Okay,
you know where you're at?
- Uh...
- Fairfax Manor.
- Re... rest home?
- Yes!
- Fairfax.
- So far, they're taking
pretty good care of you,
looks to me like.
You had a little pneumonia
going on.
[Darlene] He's been through
two kidney transplants
and his immune system
is suppressed.
We know the risk that he took,
but we had to be there
for these patients.
And, uh...
I support him, I love him,
and I'll be with him
through it all unto the end.
[Dr. Graham] If you can imagine,
gasping for breath
every time you breathe,
and we have nothing to give 'em.
Then... then that's what we're
dealing with with those folks.
Uh, even giving 'em
high volumes of oxygen,
giving 'em all the pain medicine
that we have
and the things for comfort,
it's pretty devastating
to watch 'em die
and not be able to do
anything with it.
[birds chirping]
One time here
in the nursing home,
every patient we had
had the COVID,
and we lost 15.
Yeah.
What a sad time.
I want to talk
about Nelson Johnson,
and I had the pleasure of
taking care of all that family
in their lifetime,
and it was my honor.
You know, he was
a rough-looking character.
In a wheelchair,
bilateral amputations.
He was somebody that was very...
funny, witty,
and he-he would make bad days
be good.
Well, I'm r-real proud that,
before he passed away,
that we did get him
a bottle of Wild Turkey.
[audience laughs]
And so, that was
his biggest wish,
and I debated about it
quite some time and...
and, uh, thankfully, he did.
I got a phone call
from Bartlesville Hospital
that he had passed away.
Just like the rest
of these people,
and Darlene will tell you,
I had to weep a little bit.
I don't know if I can do enough,
but I'll assure you I will spend
the rest of my life
trying to take care
of these folks.
And when they come
through these doors,
they will have compassion
and love that all of us want.
Thank you very much.
[audience applauds]
Anyone have
anything else to say?
A lot of people don't know
that what he had to put up with
in those COVID units.
It's horrible, y'all.
It's hard work
of everybody trying to.
On Christmas, we had to have
the grandkids come outside
and just wave a picture, happy...
You know,
merry Christmas, Grandma,
and all that kind of stuff.
But it kept people's spirits up.
And it's all kinds of things
like that that keep spirits up.
Everybody just love everybody
and do what you can.
I'm gonna put this back on now.
[audience laughs]
Thank y'all for coming.
This was my sister, Carma,
and she's my younger sister.
She left two boys behind
and my mom.
And this is the only memorial
that she got to have
because when she passed,
nobody could come.
Nobody could, you know,
travel states.
And so, I appreciate this.
- God bless y'all. Yeah.
- Love y'all.
God bless y'all.
[tender, solemn music playing]
As far as our hospital,
I mean, it was ready to close.
We had nothing,
couldn't hardly even feed
the patients.
Small town, desolate,
pleading for help.
[Dr. Pusey] It was starting out
from such a low point.
And I think the more we looked,
the more we kept finding
of things that they didn't have.
But once you start
and once you get involved,
then you can't really walk away.
I was in it, you know?
[Dr. Graham] And things got good
very rapidly.
I mean, infrastructure
was redone.
Uh, new roofs, new generators,
new heating and cooling system.
They built the new wing,
all new equipment,
state-of-the-art equipment,
beds that were 25,000 apiece.
And just this week,
they just put in
a brand-new,
64-slice CT scanner.
[indistinct chatter]
We're starting to do MRIs
and some other things,
so it's a...
Kind of a big city hospital
in a small town.
You go from a hospital
with a door just propped open
with a brick
to a nice, new, beautiful,
state-of-the-art facility
that's full.
Be sure I got copies of those,
if you would.
- Yes, sir.
- Going over to the clinic.
Thank you. I appreciate you.
Appreciate you, too, Doc.
See you later.
And let's do one more
where you walk off.
- All right.
- And if you can give me
your best, like, used car
salesman energy on this one.
Hi, I'm Dr. Elizabeth Pusey.
Welcome to Rural Wellness
Fairfax Hospital.
I'm excited to show you
our new wing.
[Joe] Part of their
business plan is to retain
or hire a public relations firm.
And so, their public relations
firm, you know, generates
these, you know, really nice,
po-positive stories
and send 'em out
as press releases.
We're not gonna,
you know, operate
as a public relations firm.
We're a newspaper.
We've always done
everything together.
And it seems like
we're held back.
I'm here to figure out
how we can help do that.
[Joe] We'd be happy to talk to
them if they would talk to us.
[Carol] Well, and...
But there is a caveat.
The idea that only
positive things can be said
is something that no journalist
will agree to.
I wouldn't have done that
for Perez.
I didn't do that for him.
I won't do that for anyone.
Are they gonna leave us
high and dry
like some of the other places,
or all the other places did?
-And so...
-[Joe] We don't know.
We don't know. But I don't know
how they would sink
eight million bucks in a place
and be willing to just pull up
and leave it.
They're almost like
they're afraid
that we're gonna say
something bad about 'em.
[Carol] They are... they...
I think exactly the thing...
Is what they're afraid of.
[Dr. Graham] I don't have
that thought.
I mean, we all, uh, praise
what they've done for us.
If you're doing great things,
why wouldn't you want me
to put that in the newspaper?
They just...
They're very suspicious
and I would look at 'em and say,
"But if it doesn't work out
and something happens
and I ended up having to walk
away, you still have a roof.
You're starting
from a much better point
than you would've been before."
Okay, sister, now try
to get out of bed.
Remember, go slow.
You're not a fast patient,
you're a sick patient.
- [alarm beeps]
- Please don't get up.
The care team has been called.
I'm looking at putting in
a facility
to be able to handle
heavier patients.
I think that... I...
I really think that's so needed,
and I feel so strongly
about that.
Both my mother and my brother
are heavier people.
They'll be able to go in a sling
up to a track system,
all the way to use the restroom.
It can go into the shower
to give that loved one
the dignity,
and that's such
an important thing
that I really wanted
to bring in here.
We know we're far away
and we need to be able
to draw people
because we're doing
something different
or something more or something
that's going to heal them faster
and it's worth coming.
- Right here. This camera.
- [laughter]
Move in a little closer so...
There we go.
- Got it!
- [cheers]
- [indistinct chatter]
- [mellow music playing]
[Dr. Graham] Rural healthcare
in a small town dictates
how well a town does,
and I know at this time,
we've got building projects,
far as housing.
We've got two or three
new businesses going.
We went from 30 employees
to now we have 115
and we're still looking
for medical personnel.
Salaries are the best
they've ever been,
so nothing of it's been
anything but good.
- Have a good trip from L.A.?
- [Dr. Pusey] Yeah, it's nonstop.
[Dr. Graham] We've been lucky
because another physician
bought the hospital,
but not everybody has
a Cinderella story.
Are they in it
for the long haul?
That is our question
based on this information
and our experience
with people who come in
from the outside
and don't take the time
to develop relationships
in the community.
And that's our concern.
I wish them well.
I hope that their business plan,
whatever that is,
does turn out to make it
suitably profitable for them
to stay here
and keep things open
for the benefit
of the community.
I certainly hope
that's the case.
Even I think if you lost 25
or 30 pounds,
you wouldn't need medication.
- You're doing this to yourself.
- Yeah, I know.
You gotta get some
self-discipline, get it done.
[laughs] I know it.
[Dr. Pusey]
Now it's very popular to say
how more traditional healthcare
fits in with the whole person.
But the country doctor
has always done that.
He was holistic
before there was holistic.
[laughs]
He's all in and there
for his patients
and knows them as whole people,
not just someone
that he sees when they're sick.
I bought a pair
of new tennis shoes
from a drug dealer
the other day.
I don't know what
he had 'em laced with,
but I was tripping
all over the place.
[laughs]
You know why the oyster
wouldn't give up the pearl?
- He was shellfish.
- [slight chuckle]
- You have any chest pain?
- Uh-uh.
- Unusual shortness of breath?
- Uh-uh.
Everything else
seems to be good,
except of course the grieving
that you're having.
I was getting over
the depression.
- Okay.
- Because I met, uh,
this lady at Walmart.
I thought we were gonna
hit it off, but...
it didn't happen.
[Dr. Graham] Well, maybe you're
just trying to replace
that hole in your heart
with somebody else
and not ready yet, you know.
- Yeah.
- So, keep lookin' around.
Wake up every day with hope.
I don't know how you hold it out
from the end anyway.
- That's the way to do it.
- Okay.
- I'm not arguing with that.
- [laughs]
[Dr. Graham] I feel like
I've been a positive influence
as much as I could.
And there's nothing more
than I want people to learn
not only from my life,
but the life
of the little hospital
that was about to go under.
But we didn't quit.
[gentle music playing]
If you notice, there's new...
That's a new emergency room sign
that we just got up
the past week.
And, boy, it really shines
at night,
if you ever get a chance
to look at that.
[cheery music playing]