SPRING 2006 KAISER PANORAMA CITY MEDICAL CENTER It was a slow day in ambulance area. The patient and I were alone in an examining room. I was serving as “admitting officer.” I had been asked by the ER crew to evaluate a possible admission to the hospital. The patient was an elderly African American man. The chart indicated that he was suffering from a kidney ailment. We were crammed into a tiny private exam room. There was barely enough space to squeeze a hospital stretcher on which the patie...

SPRING 2006 KAISER PANORAMA CITY MEDICAL CENTER It was a slow day in ambulance area. The patient and I were alone in an examining room. I was serving as “admitting officer.” I had been asked by the ER crew to evaluate a possible admission to the hospital. The patient was an elderly African American man. The chart indicated that he was suffering from a kidney ailment. We were crammed into a tiny private exam room. There was barely enough space to squeeze a hospital stretcher on which the patie...