Max Goodwin

**Dr.** **Maximus "Max" Goodwin** is Medical Director at New Amsterdam Medical Center after working for five years at clinic in Chinatown after having been appointed by the Dean as the new Medical Director, with hopes to strengthen the hospital's reputation and increase efficiency.

His appointment is initially controversial, and his sweeping policies — such as firing everyone in the Cardiac Surgical department — seem rash. On his fifth day, the management team suggests firing Max, however he reiterates that he was hired to make changes in the hospital. Max believes the situation to be a win-win, if the board fires him, he saves his marriage, however if he stays, he saves the hospital. The board grant him six month probation, however he suggests that three is enough.

## Biography

### Early life

Max and his twin sister Luna were born at New Amsterdam. When they were eight, Luna died from a hospital-acquired infection that could have been prevented. Her death inspired Max to become a doctor as he wanted to make sure that no other family would be forced to go through the same preventable tragedy his family went through. Little else is known about Max's adult history prior to his employment at New Amsterdam. The only thing that is known, is that he was the Director of a clinic in Chinatown and as mentioned by his late wife he has won awards for his radical treatment of woman with Zika and is specialized in infectious disease like Ebola. He graduated from Brown University. Shortly before the series Max and his wife Georgia Goodwin, are pregnant and agree to both quit their jobs to look after the baby, Georgia ends up sacrificing her career as a dancer and Max gives up his job in Chinatown. But despite this, weeks later Max accepted Dean Fulton's job offer to be the new Medical Director of New Amsterdam Medical Center. Georgia finds out and kicks him out of their apartment.

### Throughout *New Amsterdam* Series

#### Season 1

Max is first seen jogging to work, Max begins to holds his throat at one point, subtly showing his upcoming health issues. His first encounter within the hospital begins with the janitorial staff and nurses. The are having a conversation about him in one of the change/locker rooms and don't realise he is the new medical director and can understand everything they are saying. Despite their rudeness though, he is kind to them and walks out with Dora Williams (his new assistant). After meeting with Dora and getting a tour of the hospital he meets Helen Sharpe and clashes heavily with her when he expresses that he wants her to spend more time with patients and less time on TV to which she laughs before heading off.

The first action that Max takes in his new role is setting up a meeting in the auditorium to discuss issues about the hospital and try out new tactics. His is willing to take any advice and concerns the staff have to offer, but no one replies to his question "How can I help?" so he begins by firing the entire cardio-surgical department and promising to bring in more experienced attendings, thereby reducing the number of inexperienced residents. Max again tries to opens the floor for suggestions and is happy to oblige when Lauren Bloom asks to abolish the waiting room in the ER. This also encourages Iggy Frome to ask for better quality food in the cafeteria.

After the meeting, Max decides to ask Lauren to do a biopsy on his throat, the second signal he might have health issues. Max eventually hires back Floyd Reynolds as head of Cardiothoracic surgery upon Bloom's suggestion and tasks him with forming a new, better department. At the end of the first episode, Helen Sharpe tells him that he has squamous cell carcinoma, which is also known as throat cancer. although on telling him she realises that he is aware of this and becomes his oncologist.

Max's cancer is relatively constant throughout the following months, however it shows no signs of shrinking, and Dr. Sharpe eventually hands him off to Dr. Stauton when the two undergo issues with their relationship. After Staunton becomes Max's doctor she soon buckles down on him and even ends up taking his keys so he will have to explain to him why he rescheduled. She doesn't understand his reluctance to get his cancer treated but ends the conversation.

In As Long As It Takes, Max decides he doesn't want chemo and instead wants to enroll in a clinical trial involving precision light therapy. Dr. Sharpe is not too thrilled with this as chemo and radiation are more guaranteed, but Max doesn't want to destroy his body and wants to run the hospital for as long as possible. Eventually both Dr. Sharpe and Georgia get on board.

In Six or Seven Minutes, Max collapses while at the lake with Georgia. She is forced to perform a tracheotomy with a plastic straw and a pocket knife as per Dr. Sharpe's instructions over the phone as 911 will take too long to get there. While the while crew waits on the roof for Max and Georgia to arrive via helicopter, Dr. Sharpe is finally forced to tell them about his cancer in order to properly and effectively treat him. Max remains intubated in the ICU while the rest of the doctors worry about the possibility of hypoxia from how long Max was unconscious before Georgia was able to perform the tracheotomy. He eventually wakes up, seemingly with no brain damage, and says that after such a close call, he'll do chemo and radiation. He also attempts to resign but everyone bands around him and says they'll pitch in more time. Georgia convinces him that he needs to stay because the hospital is who he is.

In Preventable, Max finds out that his cancer is not responding to chemo and is given double the dose of what he usually gets. This ends up taking away the majority of his energy and makes him fatigued for the most part. His tumor begins to shrink, however, but his situation deteriorates rapidly and Max becomes so fatigued he is unable to walk without aid. Seeing this, Sharpe promises to find an alternative means of treatment for Max, and forces him to take time off to get better, much to his dismay. He is later treated by Dr. Valentina Castro, who treats his cancer using a new treatment method.

#### Season 2

In S2 Episode "The Island", he enters remission.

## Relationships

### Familial

#### Luna Goodwin

Luna Goodwin is the only daughter of Max and Georgia Goodwin and has a strong bond with her father due to the fact her mother died after giving birth to her. Max constantly relies of Georgia's grandparents to look after her due to his busy schedule but this ends when they try to claim full custody of her

### Romantic

#### Georgia Goodwin

Max's relationship with his wife, Georgia, suffered greatly when Max assumed control of New Amsterdam. Prior, their relationship had been rocky, however when Max signs up to spend even more time away from her and their unborn child, Georgia feels neglected. Their relationship becomes more strained when Max reveals his cancer diagnosis to her in *Anthropocene*, however she promises to stand beside him throughout the journey and frequently attends meetings with Dr. Sharpe on the matter. Max frequently attends birthing classes with Georgia, including in *Croaklahoma*, which brings the two closer together again.

Max is faced with an impossible decision in *Luna*, when Georgia's placenta ruptures and she begins bleeding out all over the apartment. Dr. Bloom is in the right place at the right time and is able to help, but tells Max that he must choose between saving his wife, or saving their unborn child as there is no time to save both — emergency services are called, but are too far away to reach Georgia in time to save the both of them. Max refuses to choose, and Dr. Bloom delivers the baby by emergency C-section. Luckily, doctors arrive on the scene in enough time to save Georgia from bleeding out. However, the ambulance crashes on their way to the hospital. She unfortunately dies due to a brain bleed at New Amsterdam Hospital, and her death was shown in "Your Turn."

#### Helen Sharpe

Max's relationship with Helen is complicated to say the least. Max first meets Helen while she's about to leave for an interview and they have a negative interaction. Although this begins to change towards the end of the episode she tells Max he has cancer. This brings them closer together as she begins trying to treat him. Helen was the only person that knew he had cancer so they were always there for each other which created a kinship for each other. They quickly become more involved with one another.

In 2021, they started dating, A few months later he asked her to marry her, she accepted but didn't show up at the ceremony.

#### Elizabeth Wilder

In 2022, months after Helen's departure to London, Max started to date he's new close friend and co-worker Elizabeth Wilder. Between corporate retreats Helen texted him to meet at a bar to explain her side of the story but he didn't go because he already chose Elizabeth.

### Other

#### Peter Fulton

Max is hired at New Amsterdam by Dean Peter Fulton, who advises him to do what he can to turn the hospital around, however he quickly becomes skeptical of Max's methods. Fulton confronts him about his methods in *Every Last Minute*, revealing that he is unhappy with the changes Max is making at New Amsterdam. Clashes between the two occur when Max is tasked with giving a wealthy widow a tour of the hospital, hoping to attain funding from her, however he convinces the woman to invest the money in a nursery at Rikers Island — Fulton is furious, but Max refuses to apologize for his actions.

In *Anthropocene*, New Amsterdam hosts its annual fund-raising gala. Fulton warns Max about the necessity to ensure funds are raised for the hospital, and threatens his job if he is unable to secure funding. The night is a raging success thanks to Georgia, however, and Fulton begins to appreciate Max for his talents. Fulton becomes one of the only member of New Amsterdam's Board of Directors to truly appreciate what Max is trying to achieve — while the others prioritize profit over patient care — but this is threatened when the Dean's job comes under scrutiny with the board. Max tries to save Fulton's job, but is unable to and he is eventually fired by the board.

## Appearances

* New Amsterdam (5 seasons, 89 episodes)
	+ Season 1: *Pilot; Rituals; Every Last Minute; Boundaries; Cavitation; Anthropocene; The Domino Effect; Three Dots; As Long As It Takes; Six or Seven Minutes; A Seat at the Table; Anima Sola; The Blues; The Forsaken; Croaklahoma; King of Swords; Sanctuary; Five Miles West; Happy Place; Preventable; This is Not the End; Luna*
	+ Season 2: *Your Turn; The Big Picture; Replacement; The Denominator; The Karman Line; Righteous Right Hand; Good Soldiers; What the Heart Wants; The Island; Code Silver; Hiding Behind My Smile; 14 Years, 2 Months, 8 Days; In The Graveyard; Sabbath; Double Blind; Perspectives; Liftoff; A Matter of Seconds*
	+ Season 3: *The New Normal; Essential Workers; Safe Enough; This is All I Need; Blood, Sweat & Tears; Why Not Yesterday; The Legend of Howie Cournemeyer; Catch; Disconnected; Radical; Pressure Drop; Things Fall Apart; Fight Time; Death Begins in Radiology*
	+ Season 4: *More Joy; We're in This Together; Same as It Ever Was; Seed Money; This Be the Verse; Laughter and Hope and a Sock in the Eye; Harmony; Paid in Full; In a Strange Land; Death is the Rule. Life is the Exception; Talkin' Bout a Revolution; The Crossover; Family; Unto the Breach; Two Doors; All Night Long; Unfinished Business; No Ifs, Ands or Buts; Truth Be Told; Rise; Castles Made of Sand; I'll Be Your Shelter*
	+ Season 5: *TBD; Hook, Line and Sinker; Big Day; Heal Thyself; Grabby Hands; Give Me a Sign; Maybe Tomorrow; All the World's a Stage; The Empty Spaces; Don't Do This for Me; Falling; Right Place; How Can I Help?*

## Trivia

* He and his sister Luna were born at New Amsterdam Medical Center. Following a hospital-acquired infection, Luna died in the hospital when she was eight.
* Max jogs to work from his home, which is close to the hospital and well within walking distance
* In S1 E0, he is diagnosed with squamous cell throat cancer
* He is bilingual and can speak Spanish fluently
* He went to Brown University
* Max is good at basketball

## Quotes

* *"If you fire me, you will help save my marriage and I will be eternally grateful. If you let me stay, I will do everything I can to save this hospital, and you will get all the credit."*
* "*Because this will end your career and I can't do this without you."*
* "*How can I help?"*
* "*Just tell me what you need. What your patients need and I don't care if it's not covered, I don't care if the board said no. Let's get into some trouble, let's be doctors again."*
* "*Better views?"*
* "*But what if I want you?"*
* "*But I will go slow and I will take care of myself. Because I love my doctor."*