Nobody can describe Tom Scalea like Tom Scalea. Middle of the road personalities work in regular emergency rooms where there is a lull every now and then and a lot of what comes through the door requires primary care and discharge. And there is never a lull. While it stands out in the world of MASH-like medicine, the center is unobtrusive at the corner of Penn and Lombard streets, unless you are a Maryland State Police helicopter pilot hovering over the trademark heliport or an ambulance driver headed for its dedicated emergency entrance.
Patients stay an average of six days.
There also are waiting rooms where Scalea delivers the good news or bad news to anxious loved ones. But I allow myself to feel when I talk to families. I never tell half the truth. They deserve to hear it like it is. If emotion isn't part of the treatment equation, gut feeling is.