'Lenox Hill' Is One of TIME's 50 Most Underappreciated TV Shows
Time · LC · trust 11/100
If you ever had any doubt that working in a hospital can be as intense as it looks on The Pitt , Lenox Hill will quickly dispel it. A rare serious documentary about health care workers in a medium that never stops putting new twists on the doctor-drama format, this series from director-producers Ruthie Shatz and Adi Barash follows four physicians at Manhattan’s Lenox Hill Hospital. Two are high-ranking male neurosurgeons who must balance high-wire cases, research interests, tough conversations with patients and their families, and the suite of administrative tasks that come with their leadership roles. In a fascinating contrast, the other two subjects are busy, thoughtful female doctors of color, one an OBGYN and one an ER practitioner, who both happened to be pregnant while the series was taping. Shatz and Barash resist imposing a tight structure; episodes flow between subjects and departments, allowing viewers to get a sense of their respective rhythms. And then, in a finale that revisits the Lenox Hill team at the height of New York’s nightmarish 2020 COVID outbreak , we watch people who were already giving 100% on the job find the fortitude to push even harder through the crisis. But the urgency of Lenox Hill didn’t end with the pandemic. One of the most universal issues of our time, health care is also among the most opaque. Each vignette in this emotional series casts new light on its personnel, procedures, and pain points, clarifying the life-or-death stakes of quality care and reminding us that Dr. Robby has real-life counterparts in every city.
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