Each episode of the new Max series covers one hour in a single day in a busy emergency department. The show manages to feel sympathetic to the hospital staff and to the patients in their care.

Suffering stomach pain, a Dallas man visited his local urgent care clinic — or so he thought, until he got a bill 10 times what he’d expected.

Salem Health in Oregon is a major hospital, but the omicron onslaught has strained the staff like never before. Still, they show up. For the patients, and for each other. And some see signs of hope.