Corruption runs deep at Nokomis Hospital, and those responsible will do anything to hide it.
Florida, Fall, 1984-When reporter Jack Kendall rushes his wife, Bobbie, to Nokomis Hospital, he expects a well-run community facility-stocked with supplies and staffed adequately. He doesn't expect a conspiracy that endangers patients and threatens the future of the 200-bed hospital serving a quiet coastal town in Sarasota County.
As Bobbie fights for her life, Jack uncovers a darker truth: CEO Mike Lard and his inner circle have been secretly draining the hospital dry.
Embezzlement, kickbacks, drug abuse, fraudulent contracts-just the beginning. When Jack starts asking Lard tough questions, he discovers the corruption isn't just financial. It's dangerous.
As Nokomis Hospital struggles with greed, mismanagement, and the pressures of Medicare's new DRG system, Jack turns to courageous insiders-vice president of nursing Nicole McIntosh and accountant Terry Myles-who are willing to risk everything to reveal the truth. However, Lard and his allies will go to any lengths to hide their crimes-including threatening the whistleblowers and targeting the reporter who's getting too close.
Set in the early 1980s-an era of deregulation, shifting healthcare economics, and rising costs-Nokomis Hospital, the fourth book in the investigative reporter Jack Kendall Mystery series, is a compelling, realistic story about power, corruption, and the cost of speaking out.