This medical drama set in the 1900s charts the exploits of the staff and patients at Knickerbocker Hospital in New York City, where they try to maintain their reputation for quality care while struggling to keep the doors open. In the first episode, accomplished but cocaine-addicted Dr. John W. Thackery is named chief surgeon and is pressured by a major benefactor to hire Dr. Algernon Edwards, a black man, as his top assistant.