Lillian Price, the new medical director, arrives at Angels of Mercy Hospital to help the struggling hospital get its accreditation back. She finds herself supervising -and clashing- with her former lover, Dr. Ben Turner, who is acting chief of surgery. Meanwhile, an elderly woman refuses to undergo emergency surgery that could save her life; and a resident botches an operation that he undertook without permission.

O'Malley enters the hospital for surgery and brings along his own private physician. Hattie Brewster suffers a stroke and Lillian discovers that Verlynne is back on drugs. Meanwhile, Jackson rescues Williams from a deranged patient.

Ben tries to save the life of a 2-year-old boy who was beaten. Guerrero threatens to reveal that O'Malley supplied him with cocaine. Jackson treats a homeless woman who claims she has sickle-cell anemia; and Prince threatens to bring legal action against Lillian and the hospital if she doesn't appoint him chief of surgery.

Ben is stopped for a traffic violation and harassed by a white police officer. Grace's father worries that he may have prostate cancer; and Lillian fights for much needed equipment when she learns the hospital has received an unexpected $20 million from the county.