He Sat Me by the Warming Racks, So I Pulled the Funding novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: Donor of Record

At the hospital board meeting Kendra moves to replace Maureen's firm, and Maureen walks in with the signed pledge.

Tolbert Claims has had the Lakeshore Medical contract for eleven years.

It is the biggest account we have, and it was on the agenda for Wednesday's board meeting under "Vendor Review."

Bev found out on Tuesday afternoon, from a friend in the hospital's billing office.

"Kendra's moving to replace us," she said. "She's got a firm from Chicago ready to start in thirty days."

"On whose authority?"

"Dr. Ainsley's. He's Chief of Cardiology now. Cardiology has a seat on the vendor committee."

I looked at the divorce papers on my desk.

"He doesn't waste time," I said.

"Neither do you," Bev said. "Put on the gray suit."

The boardroom was on the ninth floor of the old wing, with a long walnut table and a window onto the lake.

A dozen people sat around it.

I walked in at five past nine and took the empty chair at the end, next to the water pitcher.

Dr. Hendry was at the head of the table.

He looked up when I came in, and his face did not move.

"Mrs. Tolbert," he said. "This is a closed vendor review."

"I'm the vendor."

"Then you're welcome to listen."

Kendra Pruell stood at the screen with a clicker in her hand.

She wore a cream blazer and her hair in the same smooth twist, and she gave me a polite nod.

Curtis sat two seats down from her.

He did not look at me.

"As I was saying," Kendra said, "the foundation is committed to excellence in revenue cycle management."

She clicked.

A slide came up with a chart of our recovery rate beside a chart of the Chicago firm's.

Theirs was higher.

"This is our proposed vendor's average over three years," she said. "Tolbert Claims has been a loyal partner. But loyalty isn't a metric."

I leaned forward.

"May I see the source for that number?"

"It's in the appendix."

"It's on slide fourteen," I said. "The footnote says their rate is measured on commercial claims only."

She did not turn around.

"Ours includes Medicaid denials, the hardest ones to recover," I said. "If you remove those, our rate is four points above theirs."

A woman at the middle of the table, the board chair, flipped a page.

"Is that right?" she asked Kendra.

"The methodology is comparable," Kendra said.

"It isn't," I said. "I've got the sheet here if anyone wants it."

I passed copies down the table.

Curtis finally looked at me.

His jaw had gone tight, which meant he was about to raise his voice, so I did not give him the chance.

"I'd also like to correct something for the record," I said. "Dr. Ainsley's promotion carries the Ainsley Heart Pavilion and the Ainsley Fellowship."

"That's not on the agenda," Kendra said.

"It is now. Both are funded by a pledge of four million dollars from the donor of record."

I took the signed agreement out of my folder and set it on the walnut.

"That's me," I said.

Nobody spoke.

The chair picked up the agreement and read the first page and then the signature.

"This is your name," she said.

"Yes."

"The foundation's annual report lists Dr. Ainsley as the donor."

"I know," I said. "I read it Monday morning."

Kendra put the clicker down very gently.

"There may have been an administrative shorthand," she said. "Mrs. Tolbert, you must understand, a gift of this size is often credited to the family."

"I withdrew it on Saturday night," I said. "The family hasn't been credited with anything since."

Curtis stood.

"This is a private matter," he said. "My wife is upset about a domestic situation. It shouldn't take the board's time."

"It's the board's money," the chair said. "Sit down, Doctor."

He sat.

Dr. Hendry had not said a word.

He was watching me over the top of his reading glasses with an expression I could not read.

It was not warm and it was not cold.

He kept his eyes on me long after I had stopped speaking.

"The board will table the vendor change until the pledge question is resolved," the chair said. "Thank you, Mrs. Tolbert."

I gathered my folder.

The room started to murmur as I stood.

Kendra came around the table and fell in beside me at the door, smiling for the benefit of the room.

"That was quite a performance," she said. "I almost felt sorry for him."

"Almost."

She lowered her voice.

"You should be careful about the fight you're picking, Maureen. He's told me everything. Things you probably don't want read aloud in a room like that."

"He doesn't know anything about me I haven't heard him lie about," I said.

She tilted her head.

"Does he know you didn't quit nursing for your mother?" she said. "Because he told me the real reason you quit. Ask him."

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