"Million Dollar Hospital" is an episode of "Alcoa Premier" and I found it on YouTube. It stars William Shatner, Charles Bickford and Reta Shaw.
When the story begins, Dr. William Grant (Shatner) is working at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago. But he is looking for something else...some other career choice. And, when he sees an ad about a 'million dollar hospital' for sale in Indiana, he's curious and goes to learn more. But he's surprised...it's not some grand hospital at all but a small clinic with mostly poor clients*. The man who runs the tiny place, Dr. Logan (Bickford), is THE doctor...and he seems to have enough work for three or four doctors. And, he's so busy that Dr. Grant chips in and helps....with such cases as a crook riddled with bullets and a partner who threatens to shoot the doctors, an overdose victim, a splinter (yes, a splinter) and a cranky father-to-be. In other words, they run from the mundane to the insanely difficult. And, by the end of the shift, Grant realizes why this is indeed a million dollar hospital.
While some of the show is silly (it's hard to imagine any clinic this busy unless it's in a war zone) and the inner city poor all look white and middle class, the show is very well done. More importantly, it's never dull and help my attention. Shatner, by the way, was very good as were the rest of the cast. Well worth seeing...and it could have been a pilot for a series...who knows.
When the story begins, Dr. William Grant (Shatner) is working at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago. But he is looking for something else...some other career choice. And, when he sees an ad about a 'million dollar hospital' for sale in Indiana, he's curious and goes to learn more. But he's surprised...it's not some grand hospital at all but a small clinic with mostly poor clients*. The man who runs the tiny place, Dr. Logan (Bickford), is THE doctor...and he seems to have enough work for three or four doctors. And, he's so busy that Dr. Grant chips in and helps....with such cases as a crook riddled with bullets and a partner who threatens to shoot the doctors, an overdose victim, a splinter (yes, a splinter) and a cranky father-to-be. In other words, they run from the mundane to the insanely difficult. And, by the end of the shift, Grant realizes why this is indeed a million dollar hospital.
While some of the show is silly (it's hard to imagine any clinic this busy unless it's in a war zone) and the inner city poor all look white and middle class, the show is very well done. More importantly, it's never dull and help my attention. Shatner, by the way, was very good as were the rest of the cast. Well worth seeing...and it could have been a pilot for a series...who knows.
