Chastain Park Memorial Hospital is now a public hospital on The Resident, so it needs government funding, but the new governor has it out for them. Dr. Kit Voss (Jane Leeves) was worried when Mark Betz (Steven Culp) ran for governor because he threatened to slash their funding. So when he won, Kit and Dr. Randolph Bell (Bruce Greenwood) met him in what they thought was a private meeting, turning out to be a press conference. Kit was diplomatic, but Bell decided to call him out on his Medicaid fraud and how Betz paid for his campaign.
Instead of convincing the governor to keep their funding, Bell just made things worse. In The Resident season 5, episode 8, Bell was sued for malpractice. While the case was solid, Bell had skeletons in his closet that were being exposed. Kit tried to reason with the governor, but there was no reasoning with him. So, Chastain lost their funding.
The Doctors Have Saved Chastain Memorial Hospital Before
This isn't the first time Chastain Memorial was close to closing its doors. In season 4, the hospital was hurting because the pandemic left it in debt. In a Hail Mary in the final hour, Bell and Marshall Winthrop went to Governor Nichelle Randall (Nichelle Hines) for her help. They saved her life in The Resident season 4, episode 2. She was that week's mystery case. Randall agreed that they could sell the hospital to the state. They were able to find a solution at the last minute to keep the hospital going. They could likely do the same here.
Since the beginning of the show, The Resident has been about fighting the medical system. So turning Chastain into a publicly funded hospital was a good call by the writers. It gave the show another aspect of the system to examine.
The Hospital Will Depend On Governor Betz Being Saved
In season 4, The Resident found help from a governor they had saved, and it looks like it may be doing the same thing in season 6. Betz got brought in after a helicopter crash. When it turned out he would need a heart transplant, Dr. AJ Austin (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) struck a deal with him that if they could get him to the top of the list, he would fund the hospital. So assuming the governor lives and sticks to his word, Chastain should stay open.
The Resident hasn't been renewed for season 7 yet, but now that Chastain will be part of the corruption of the medical system, that could open up more storylines for the show. The doctors of The Resident have done everything they can to fight for their patients. They saw this as another way to.