Thackery’s absence, a lack of affluent patients, and financial missteps have led to a decision by the hospital’s board to shutter the downtown location and move uptown, while everyone grapples with both personal and professional challenges.

In 1900, the surgeons and nurses at the Knickerbocker Hospital in New York push the boundaries of medicine in a time of high mortality rates and zero antibiotics. Chief surgeon Dr. John Thackery pioneers new methods in the field while harboring a severe cocaine addiction.