The Mandrake Charity Hospital was originally a mercantile exchange in the Lower City, purchased by Mandrake and converted to a hospital early in the reign of Queen Clarissa. While the hospital itself has been maintained throughout the centuries, the neighborhood has not, and is now Amber's most notorious red-light district.
Layout
The main floor of the hospital contains the lobby, and the wards. The large trading floor of the mercantile exchange was divided in half, leaving two large rooms that are used as communal wards. A gallery sits above these rooms, for students and administrators to observe the events below. Offices are on the upper floors, and a wing built fairly recently holds private rooms for those who can afford to make the appropriate donation. There are other rooms in the basement of the hospital, but access to them is strictly limited.
Purpose
The Hospital is first and foremost a charity organization. It operates with the intent of treating the poor of Amber, at no cost. For those who can afford it, a sliding-fee scale of 'donations' can purchase treatment, all the way up to the small wing of private rooms that offer service equal to a private physician. Most of the patients seen by the Hospital are destitute, though and so charitable donations from elsewhere in the city are critical to maintaining operations.
Staff
A number of Mandrake family members serve at the hospital. Currently, Celeste is the chief administrator of the hospital, and many members of the House put in regular hours there. Any family member with medical skills is welcomed, and given a great deal of freedom to operate within the hospital.
In addition to the family, the hospital employs a significant staff of doctors, nurses, and administrators. It is also used as a teaching hospital, so there are students to be dragooned into performing minor procedures, or assist in larger ones.
Services
The Mandrake Hospital is primarily a charity concern; therefore, it is not at the top of medical technology, even for Amber. While Mandrake healers are known for being able to cure nearly any ill, there are only so many to go around. Typically, the hospital can handle the following ailments and conditions:
- Minor wounds, including flesh wounds from combat
- Simple bone fractures
- Acute non-fatal illnesses
- Childbirth
- Amputations
As a general rule, the following situations require the direct attendance of a Mandrake healer, and should be roleplayed rather than assumed:
- Surgery of any sort
- Fatal illnesses (diseases that require a cure, rather than just a mitigation of symptoms.)
- Unusually difficult childbirths, including caesarean sections