Isolation Ward
Chapter One
St. Raphael's was an old Catholic hospital, struggling to maintain its independence in the face of overtures-friendly and outright aggressive-from Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland. The hospital sat in the middle of a decayed neighborhood in the southwestern quadrant of the city, surrounded to the north and west by housing projects and to the south and east by a mix of old factories and abandoned row homes. The hospital served the needy in the immediate area, but extended its reach to the working-class neighborhoods of Pigtown and Locust Point. The last I heard, it was hemorrhaging money and talks with Hopkins and Maryland had started up again, this time at St. Raphe's behest. The former belle at the ball, now trying to dance with anyone who'd have her. Rumor had it the powers that be-admin at St. Raphe's, the Catholic archdiocese, the city, Hopkins, U of M-were just going to shutter the ... read full excerpt from Isolation Ward ebook