Doctor Death
Getting On | Season 2 | Episode 6

Doctor Death

TV-MA | 30 MIN

Written by Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer
Directed by
Howard Deutch

Dawn arrives for her shift and announces to DiDi that she married the security guard, Dennis Beardman, the previous night. DiDi has no idea how to respond, but ultimately agrees to let Dawn bring cake to the gift shop during DiDi's evening shift so they can celebrate.

DiDi challenges Dr. James about the low pay she's receiving as hospice liaison. DiDi, who's making a mere 30 cents an hour more, has learned she should be making as much as $10,000 to $15,000 extra in her new role. "I'm giving you ‘til 11 AM today," DiDi says. "Back wages and everything."

Paul Stickley sends Jenna to the committee room where he and the hospital's legal team confront her with allegations about her hospice program. Because the program has grown so big so quickly, a local paper has accused the hospital of becoming a "death mill." Medicaid has raised multiple red flags with the program and frozen all funds. The legal team demands Dr. James turn over all her files.

In a panic, Dr. James confronts Suzi Sasso, who hedges on her involvement in rapidly expanding Jenna's hospice program. Suzi leaves in a huff, hissing that Dr. James is a "problem client" and she's cutting her loose.

Dr. Stickley calls another meeting -- this time, to reveal the charges to Patsy, Dawn and DiDi, as they've been named co-conspirators in the racketeering and kick-back charges brought against the hospital. They can be charged with half million dollars in fines and five years in prison; the hospital will be excluded from participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, bringing "this entire hospital to its knees."

Following the meeting, the staff go into a discharge frenzy, releasing all the patients they've enrolled in hospice. On Dr. James' orders, Dawn and DiDi round up all the hospice files and bring them to her office, where she scrambles to come up with a plan to destroy them because "if you looked at them aggressively, through a distorted lens, you could twist it into maybe building a case that there were some overly-generous admissions." But before she can do anything, the legal team arrives and carts away the files.

At the end of the day, Patsy drops by the gift shop while Dennis and Dawn cut their celebratory cake. He angrily congratulates Dawn on her "rebound marriage," prompting Dawn to ask whether he was ever attracted to her. Patsy admits he was attracted to parts of her -- specifically her "bottom back" and "top" parts. A fight breaks out between Patsy and Dennis; Dawn is tickled to be the source of it.

After breaking down in the women's room and pulling out her new hair extensions, Dr. James runs up to the hospital roof with DiDi and Dawn in tow. Jenna jokes that they could all join hands and jump off the roof together, and the earlier tension between the women eases as each keeps her own complicated personal situation in mind. Dr. James apologizes to DiDi and Dawn for failing them and getting them caught up in her hospice scheme; it wasn't her intention to get them in trouble.

Colleen from hospice comes to the roof to let them know that a patient, Mrs. Lee, is dying. In Mrs. Lee's room, the women look on helplessly, prevented from extreme intervention by her DNR. Dr. James claims that Mrs. Lee's "spirit is hovering" because it doesn't know if it's ready to leave or not. She begins to shake her while Dawn and DiDi massage her legs to keep the blood flowing. Mrs. Lee's heart resumes beating as Dr. James announces that "this one's coming back." Colleen begins to sing "Keep on the Sunny Side," and the others join in as they work to keep Mrs. Lee alive.

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