The Transfers Discussion

I sat in the wheelchair and remained silent as they pushed me through the hallways.

"It's because of the people up there." The nurse pushing my wheelchair said.

"What is?" Asked the head nurse in confusion.

"They keep taking so long to get these people up there." He said. Though I could not see his face, I could tell by his voice that he was irritated. "It's because of her. The one I was telling you about earlier."

We turned a corner and ended up in front of an elevator. The man pressed the button, and the door instantly opened. He pushed me into the elevator and pressed the buttons to go up. I did not even bother looking, knowing it would not be a floor I would wish to remember throughout the rest of my lifetime. We all stayed silent on the elevator as it brought us up. The time seemed to be dragging. Each of the numbers lit up one by one before arriving at our own. The doors opened. He pushed me out, the head nurse following behind.

"That's why we're just bringing people up now. They've had free beds the whole time too. My shift started thirty minutes ago, and she was leaving as I came in. I asked her, Hey, Karla, why don't we have anyone up here yet if the beds have been free all day? She said, Oh, well, we've just been leaving them open in case we have any emergency cases come in. Does she not realize she is saying that as I ask her why we don't have the people from the emergency rooms up here? I mean, for fucks sake, the word emergency is literally in the title!" The man exclaimed.

"Christ's sake." The head nurse huffed. "Why would she even do that? I don't get it."

We turned another corner and started heading up a ramp. In the distance, at the top, there was a big, stern security-locked door.

"Transfers." He snarled.

"Oh my god. You've got to be fucking kidding me." The head nurse said irritably.

"I swear, they don't even care about the people here. They only care about the money aspect of it all. People usually go to the emergency room for mental problems because they do not have the money for psychologists and therapists. That is the exact reason why they have the financial worker here. To help people get the benefits both in and outside of hospitals. But with transfers, they're usually already paid for by the hospital they're coming from or already have enough money. The big difference is that people from the emergency room just get sent up here, but with people who get transferred here, the hospital gets paid each time they take them in."

We got up to the door and stopped right in front of it. He pulled out a card and placed it on the scanner attached to the door. It buzzed, signaling that my nightmare was welcoming me into its dungeon.

"See," He said, continuing. "People coming in bring more patients, but transfers coming in bring more money. She doesn't care about the people. She only cares about her paycheck."