“Our next nominee is someone who can represent the merchants of this town so I would like you all to consider your vote for Joe Osborne who has been part of this town since its inception and has helped many a person through difficult times.”
All hands were raised and a cheer went up and Joe joined the rest of the committee.
“Finally, we need a doctor on our council. You all know that Dr Steele is the army doctor but he has agreed to help on our town council until we have a replacement but I would still like you all to vote on his acceptance onto our committee,” said Liza. “Those in favour, please vote.”
Everyone agreed to his being on the council and he sat in the last seat available.
Liza was about to let everyone know that she had heard from Dr Marsden when someone in the room shouted, “Who’s going to advise me on my night time needs, Liza, is that going to be down to you?” Of course it was the corporal and his lady friend was smirking so Liza knew that she was going to be in for something which they hoped would embarrass her. Patrick moved forward to get to him, but one look from Liza told him to stop and both Sean and Mark each put a hand on him to prevent him from doing something that he would regret. Liza turned and quietly asked Dr Steele the name of the man.
“Corporal Shaw, I’m so sorry that you are experiencing such difficulties in that area, although I would have thought that this is rather a public place to air such a delicate problem as yours but since you’ve brought it up now and have asked the council’s advice, then perhaps you will allow Dr Steele to tell you how you may be able to deal with your embarrassing inability. Dr Steele, what advice have you got for the unfortunate Corporal Shaw?”
“Well,” started Dr Steele, who was extremely amused at how Liza had managed to avoid an awkward moment and turn the tables on the corporal. There was a great deal of sniggering in the room.
“I don’t have an inability,” said the corporal, “it was just meant as a joke.”
“Well, I would suggest that you see Dr Steele when you are back at the fort because, as we all know, there’s many a true word spoken in jest,” said Liza in apparent seriousness.
“Before we bring this meeting to a close, I haven’t yet had a chance to inform anyone that today I heard from Dr Marsden who has said that he is interested in coming to Benson, but first he is travelling here and will arrive in the next few days, so let us hope that he likes us and that we like him. If all works out well, he will return as soon as he can with his family. So, Dr Steele, this may be the shortest time that anyone has ever served on a town council,” smiled Liza.
“How will the doctor survive whilst he may have to wait for people to be treated,” asked someone in the room.
“That’s always a problem,” said Liza. “I hope that sometime in the future we’ll be able to organise a medical health scheme where everyone can participate and be able to call the doctor without the worry of a medical bill.”
“That sounds interesting, Liza,” said the colonel, “how would it work?”
“It’s something that I have been toying with for some time, but I have yet to iron out all the details. In essence, we all pay a small amount each week or month into the scheme and from that the doctor gets paid and maybe buys new equipment when necessary. In turn, he treats his patients who have already paid for his services. Some people will hardly have to use him and some may have to be cared for on a more regular basis. In fact, it is like an insurance policy which is drawn on when needed. As I said, I haven’t worked out the finer details, or discussed it with anyone else yet so really I should not have said anything this evening,” said Liza and once again Patrick smiled in amusement knowing that she was just waiting for an opportunity to air an idea to find what the reaction might be. Other members of the committee also knew that Liza never let anything slip to an audience unless she intended it to.
Mr Tolany stood up and asked whether the weekly or monthly payments would be very expensive. “Well,” answered Liza, “it would depend on how many people participate and I would expect only working age adults to join the scheme, part of the benefit would be that children would be included free. When they reached adulthood they would be expected to pay into the scheme. But as I say, I haven’t worked out all the details. However, I wouldn’t expect a monthly payment to be more than 75 cents per person.”
“I would like to do that,” said Mr Dornberg. “I think that’s a good idea.”
“Thank you, Mr Dornberg, but we would need quite a few people to participate to make it work. I hadn’t intended to detail this tonight but as we are all here, could I have a show of hands from those who would consider entering into such a scheme, obviously it would have to be at the right price and with the right benefits,” said Liza. “Gabriel, could you and Angela count the number of people interested?”
All hands went up which was what Liza had hoped for. One lady asked what would happen if they were not in the scheme.
“You would have to pay the doctor for each visit, which is what you do now,” said Liza.
The same lady said that they rarely went to the doctor because they couldn’t afford to pay him, but she said that she would be able to afford 75 cents a month. This lady had, therefore, proved Liza’s case for the scheme.
“I’d like to thank you all for coming tonight. I think that we have made some good decisions and you can rest assured that your town council will do all it can for the benefit of all the people of Benson. Good night everyone,” said Liza.
People milled around for a while and all those now on the council wanted to finalise their meeting so Liza suggested that they all come back to their house. George and Angela waited a little while so that they could lock the school before joining the rest of the committee. Zelma had already returned and relieved Greg’s sister of her child minding duties.
They reached home and Liza said to Patrick how tired he looked and she was sorry that they were continuing with the meeting for a while when she knew he needed his sleep. “Liza, you really need your sleep more than I do. I have to admire how you handled Corporal Shaw. I noticed that he was keeping company with the woman that Frank Wyley used to be with.”
“Yes, I knew that they were there to create trouble, I had problems with that woman soon after I arrived here so I was ready for them,” said Liza.
“Liza, you did well this evening and especially with Corporal Shaw,” said the colonel. “That woman he was with is that obnoxious one at the school meeting all those years ago, isn’t she?”
Liza nodded. “I don’t really know who she is; all I know is that she speaks very well, which I have found surprising. She must have fallen upon hard times.”
“It’s good news about the doctor from New York, Liza; it sounds as if he is quite keen or he wouldn’t be travelling all this way unless he was very interested,” said Dr Steele.
“From his letter, he seems to be taking responsibility for housing his family and creating his surgery. I think that he will be pleased that there is somewhere that he can have immediately even if it isn’t the lofty heights of what he may have had in New York. I hope he won’t be disappointed,” said Liza.
“There’s no problem with him using Dr Bridges house, is there, Liza?” asked Jake Smith. “Did you find out who owned it?”
“Yes; and there’s no problem with the new doctor using it. He may wish to buy it, he’ll be given that option,” said Liza.
Everybody then realised that Liza now owned it but nothing else was said about it.
Leonard Pembroke said that he felt that the idea of having a medical scheme had a great deal of merit, and everyone agreed that it was well worth costing so Liza, Gabriel and Leonard Pembroke would spend some time working on the figures and legalities of such a scheme.
“If Liza hasn’t already worked on the figures, I shall be very surprised,” said Dr Steele. “I don’t think any of us were fooled by you saying that you were just toying with the idea. Anyway, I promised Patrick that I wouldn’t let you get too tir
ed doing this, so come on everyone, let’s leave Liza to get some rest, and Patrick also looked tired when he arrived this evening. Well done, Liza, it was a good meeting and very orderly.”
Finally, Liza was alone with Patrick and they sat comfortably in their rocking chairs by the fire. “You looked very handsome when you arrived tonight, Patrick, slightly dusty but even so, I really wanted to come over to you and give you a big kiss.”
“I really must get washed and changed, but I’m so comfortable and warm here and it’s nice and peaceful now. I’m concerned about that Corporal Shaw, he looks and sounds just like Frank Wyley, and you really humiliated him tonight; his lady friend was certainly not best pleased either. I think you have a couple of enemies there,” said Patrick.
“They tried to humiliate me, although I think humiliate is too strong a word. I suppose I was rather cruel, but he did leave himself open to being made a joke of. There’s nothing I can do about it now and the only good side is that everyone was amused by it. Do you think I’m going to have to be careful? I didn’t think that I would have to be when Frank Wyley was around and I was wrong about that,” said Liza.
“No, I think that you might get some nasty comments on occasion, but I think that what eventually happened to Frank Wyley will be a lesson for Corporal Shaw,” said Patrick.
“Yes I suppose so,” said Liza and she rocked in the chair and was soon asleep. Patrick left her there whilst he washed and changed and then lifted her up and took her up to bed. She woke and asked him if he was putting her to bed.
“Well, I’ll help you get ready for bed, but I’m not going to put you to bed tonight. I’m going to rock you to sleep again and then I’m going to get myself some supper because nobody has fed me this evening,” said Patrick.
“Oh, Patrick, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think about that. Let me go down and get you something,” Liza moved to go down the stairs again, but Patrick stopped her.
“Don’t worry; Zelma left me some supper and you need to get to bed and rest because I know you are going to have a few busy days getting ready for Dr Marsden. It will be a weight off everyone in town if he is happy to come here,” said Patrick and he helped her undress and get into bed. She was asleep before he had got half way down the stairs.
She was up early the next morning and when she had seen Patrick off to the fort and breakfasted with the boys, she went to the doctor’s house with Charlie Penn, the carpenter, and made some decisions about a small amount of essential renovation. She wanted to let Dr Marsden make his own choices and if he was happy to come to the town, he could have the work carried out whilst he went back to get his family. The house was now clean and tidy and Liza could see that it was quite a large property and well able to accommodate the doctor’s family with room to spare.
There were three relatively large bedrooms and one smaller one, a kitchen with a large dining table and a very reasonable sitting room. The room for the surgery ran along the front of the house and although narrow, it was more than adequate for his needs. A small part of it was sectioned off with just enough room for a small bed and Liza assumed that this would have been used should anyone need to recuperate after treatment. She arranged that the surgery was to be painted but she would leave the rest of the house to Dr Marsden. The family could move into it straight away once enough beds were put in place and Liza had no idea whether Dr Marsden would be bringing any furniture with him but she assumed that he probably would be and it was useful that he was visiting first so that she could arrange all his needs. Charlie Penn and the ladies who made mattresses were ready to drop whatever they were doing to see to the needs of the doctor.
As Liza wandered around the house seeing in her mind how items could be arranged, it reminded her so much of when she was organising her own house; she had also been pregnant then. It all seemed so familiar to her and she remembered the excitement she felt as she arranged her own furniture in the first house that she had ever completely organised herself.
Her next port of call was with Leonard Pembroke at the bank and on the way she saw Gabriel who said that he would join her there.
“How long have you been thinking of the health scheme idea, Liza,” asked Gabriel as they settled in Mr Pembroke’s office.
“I’ve really thought that it was something which should be introduced in many places for many years now, so I have been toying with the idea and not put too much effort into it until fairly recently. That lady last night who admitted that she really could not afford to pay a doctor but could perhaps afford less than a dollar a month was a classic case of why this could be well worth looking into. I would say that there are quite a few families who feel that way,” said Liza.
“You got resounding approval from the meeting last night to go ahead with working on your idea, but of course, that’s why you mentioned it, wasn’t it?” said Gabriel. “I have never known you say anything that you didn’t intend to, especially at a town meeting. We on your town committee are beginning to know how you ‘work’ an audience; soon some of the towns people will learn that also so you’ll then have to watch how you make your speeches.”
Leonard Pembroke laughed, “Actually, I didn’t realise that until you asked for a vote on your idea; up until that time I thought you had inadvertently voiced your thoughts, but the vote and the smirk on your husband’s face as well as the slight grin on the colonel’s face and Gabriel, you looked down so that in your lawyers manner you wouldn’t give your thoughts away, I realised that you had been play acting.”
“I needed to get a reaction one way or the other to see if it was worth going forward with, and it would appear that it is,” said Liza.
“I’ve been working on some figures quickly this morning, which I will discuss later, but first I want to ask Gabriel the legalities of setting up an account which really belongs to the town,” said Leonard Pembroke. “It isn’t something that I have handled before, but I can’t see that there would be any problems with it.”
“No, I think you agree that as long as an account is held to the benefit of the people it can be easily set up. It would have to be documented what purpose it is for so that it isn’t drawn upon and used for any other purpose than the specified one, and of course, we would have to decide who would be signatories,” said Gabriel.
“Now, I suppose, we had better look at the feasibility of the scheme,” said Liza. “What figures do you have for us, Mr Pembroke?”
“I took your figure of 75 cents per month and we would need fifty adults to participate in the scheme to cover the doctor’s salary alone,” said Mr Pembroke.
“How many people do you think were at the meeting last night? It was over fifty, but some were army personnel,” said Liza.
“When the final count was taken it was nearer seventy,” said Gabriel.
“Around fifteen were army, and they have their own scheme because it’s not very different to what we are suggesting. Their salaries take into account the fact that they and their families have free medical assistance whenever they need it. So, that’s say fifty-five people who could be interested, and there are at least another twenty who weren’t there last night. That means that we do have seventy-five who could be interested and if we can get them to join then we are looking at a monthly payment per adult of just 50 cents,” said Liza.
“But of course, Liza, you were only toying with the idea, not having had a thought about the finances of such a scheme!” said Gabriel with an amount of sarcasm which was unusual for him.
“Yes, I had an idea that you had worked on the figures in detail,” said Leonard Pembroke. “What would happen if we only get a few people finally paying into the scheme?”
“Hopefully we’ll have quite a number, but it will take time to get it running smoothly, but anyone who doesn’t use the scheme will just have to pay the doctor directly. He’ll have a list of patients who are on the scheme and to start with, he’ll just get the relevant percentage of the payments and hopefully make up the difference from people
outside the scheme. He won’t be losing out because he’ll get paid what we collect every month which he wouldn’t have otherwise received, especially if nobody is ill. Does that make sense?” said Liza.
“Yes, I think I understand what you mean. To start with the doctor gets paid what has been collected in for his services per month from his patients whether they use his services or not and we give him a list of participants so that he knows not to charge them. Hopefully, eventually, everyone will join the scheme,” said Leonard Pembroke.
“I think we ought to decide whether we charge 70 or 50 cents per person per month,” said Liza, “and I think that perhaps we should go for the middle ground and ask 60 cents, pay the doctor 50 cents and keep 10 cents for incidentals such as equipment. What do you both think?”
“Yes, that would work quite well. I know that most doctors have their own equipment, but there are larger items which could be out of the doctor’s reach,” said Mr Pembroke.
“In that case, we should set up two accounts and divide the money immediately between the two accounts,” said Gabriel. “I know the equipment account will not be very large but it would not be used every month so it could accrue quite well. We have to discuss signatures on both the scheme account and equipment account. Liza, I believe you should be sole signatory on the accounts.”
“No, Gabriel, I think that there should be at least two signatures and then no one person can be accused of misusing funds. What about any two of the three of us? Whichever two are available at the time,” said Liza.
“How are we going to promote it? I suppose we could visit everyone and ask them,” said Gabriel.
“I wish we had a printing press here. Maybe the time has come for us to have our own newspaper,” said Liza thoughtfully and both Gabriel and Leonard Pembroke knew that probably within a short space of time Benson was going to have the benefit of a newspaper.
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