One of the best things about St. Denis Medical is how much they dive into the more taboo issues in healthcare. St. Denis Medical Season 1 Episode 11, “Nobody Even Mentions The Brownies” was one of those as Joyce worked on getting the staff to start recommending more services to the patients. While Alex, Matt, Ron, and Serena were completely against it, Joyce informed everyone that to get the hospital more recognition and, of course, more money, they needed to offer these things to show that there is a need in the area and their hospital is the best one to provide it.
Joyce can see that the team isn’t cool with doing any of this, so she uses floor tickets to see SZA as an incentive. That changes the game for a lot of people, so Serena and Matt once again team up. Alex, on the other hand, has other ideas in mind when she helps out an unhoused patient. Elsewhere, Ron and Bruce teamed up to try and fix a leaky pipe.
More: Did you miss an episode of St. Denis Medical? Check out our review of St. Denis Medical Season 1, Episode 10 “People Just Say Stuff Online.”
Upsell
Every week on St. Denis Medical Joyce tries to find a way to appear that she and her staff are equals. Unfortunately, when you have competing goals that doesn’t always work out so well. Joyce telling the staff to offer more medical services so that the hospital will generate more revenue sounds like a good idea. However, when it becomes clear that they’re all on different paths with what they want, it’s not much of a priority. Joyce’s goal is to upgrade their VIP suite. She hopes to get everything from 5G Wi-Fi to pure Egyptian cotton sheets.
Of course, this doesn’t sit well with any of the staff. Especially Alex. Everyone knows that St. Denis is stretched thin with resources. The building is falling apart with leaky pipes. They need more Alaris pumps to deliver fluids and medications to patients and more patient techs. Not Koi ponds and fancy art. To the staff providing patient care, that’s where the money should go, and they’re right. How can Joyce expect the hospital to offer more services to their patient community when they don’t have functioning equipment? I know how it feels to ask for things that you need and hear about other projects that seem to take more precedence. It’s frustrating. And there is also nothing more frustrating than the “VIP” mentality.
The Heiress of Dusseldorf
The “VIP” mentality comes into play a lot in the medical world, and it’s a frustrating term. I love that St. Denis Medical Season 1, Episode 11, shed light on this. As I mentioned, Alex was pretty frustrated with Joyce and her priorities with upselling to patients. After taking care of her patient Ruth, who is unhoused and known as a frequent flyer, rather than sending her off and back onto the street, she offers her a room in the VIP suite. I love Alex because she’s a bit of a rebel, and sometimes, that’s what you need in a patient advocate.
To Alex, all patients are VIPs. Nurses and Doctors take an oath to care for everyone no matter their background or financial status. Of course, I was scared of what would happen to Alex if she got busted. She almost did but she rallied. After Joyce caught Ruth in the suite, Alex lied and told her she was the Heiress of Dusseldorf, and she just needed a place to hide for a little bit. Joyce bought it which was hilarious but I guess her greed (yes, I said greed) won out. Whereas Alex was thinking of a person, all Joyce saw was dollar signs and what “The Heiress” could do for them. I can only imagine what would have happened if Joyce realized that Ruth was in fact not an heiress.
More Serena and Matt Time
Serena and Matt have become one of my “when will they?” pairings on St. Denis Medical. All through Season 1, Matt has been sending Serena signals that he likes her, but she’s not picking them up. I think that’s because Serena is one of those people that wants you to speak up. I enjoy watching her and Matt work together because I think they make a great team. I really thought that after St. Denis Medical Season 1, Episode 9 “You Gotta Have A Plan,” their dynamic would shift more. In some ways, it did, but Matt is holding back a lot.
I do get it, though. They work together. And dating your coworker can be risky. Especially if things don’t work out. Also, Matt is respectful, which is good, so I know he doesn’t want to do anything inappropriate. He was thrilled when Serena suggested they team up to work on upselling patients (even though he was against it). He was even more ecstatic when they won. For him, winning the tickets to see SZA wasn’t the motivation. His motivation was spending some non-work-related time with Serena. Unfortunately, Serena decided to sell her ticket to another coworker. Better luck next time, Matt!
St. Denis Medical airs Tuesday Nights at 8/7c on NBC.
