The final diagnosis (novel)

The action takes place in the mid-twentieth century in the USA in Pennsylvania.

Joe Pearson, 66, is the chief pathologist at the Three Counties Hospital. Ten years ago his wife died. Since then, he stopped monitoring his appearance and looked more like a tramp than a department head in a hospital. However, Pearson was one of the most experienced specialists.

Kent O'Donnell is the chief surgeon of the hospital, he is more than forty years old. He retained a athletic figure, and although he was not particularly handsome, his manly face attracted the attention of women.

The Hospital of the Three Counties was once a solid clinic, but over time, signs of deterioration and decline began to appear. Kent O'Donnell came to the hospital precisely in order to revive her former glory. However, the old doctors who have worked here for many years are opposed to innovation. And the first among the conservatives is Joe Pearson. The situation is complicated by the fact that Pearson is a friend of a member of the board of trustees of the hospital, financial tycoon Eustace Swain, on whom the flow of funds to the hospital depends to a large extent.

Despite all the difficulties, the chief surgeon O'Donnell manages to begin the transformation, and Joe Pearson voluntarily retires. He explains it this way: “... days, years fly by. During this time, you send more than a dozen doctors to refresher courses, forcing you to keep track of everything new that appears in medicine. And you yourself do not have everything for this time. Scientific and research work is abandoned: you are too tired for the day, in the evening you can’t even read. And then one day it becomes clear to you that your knowledge is out of date. And it’s too late to change anything ” ^[1] .

This is the production canvas. But in Haley’s novel there are several love lines. One of them is connected with the fate of a young nurse practitioner Vivienne. Dr. Michael Seddons invites Vivien to marry him. But some time later, after she was diagnosed with bone sarcoma and her leg was amputated, Seddons parted with Vivien, believing that it would be a burden for him. Another love line is the difficult circumstances of the personal life of chief surgeon Kent O'Donnell.

The final diagnosis is made by the pathologist. The hospital of the Three Counties and the Haley characters working in it make the final diagnosis the truth of life, which, of course, is present in the novel.

1. ↑ Hayley A. Final diagnosis: Roman / Per. with the English N.Kuznetsova, D. Mishne, T.Nikolaeva. - M.: Publishing House AST, 2002.

• Haley A. Final diagnosis: Roman / Per. with the English N.Kuznetsova, D. Mishne, T.Nikolaeva. - M.: Publishing House AST, 2002. - 269 p. ISBN 5-17-010838-9