For five seasons, Ryan Eggold played the dedicated and optimistic Max Goodwin on New Amsterdam, but as it turns out this fictional doctor isn't entirely made up. New Amsterdam is a medical drama about Max Goodwin, the new medical director of New Amsterdam hospital, where he hopes to take down the bureaucracy and provide the highest quality medical care. The series ended after five seasons at the start of 2023.Throughout New Amsterdam, the main character Max Goodwin works hard to make the hospital the best it can be through various changes and new ideas, all while dealing with his own personal problems as well. Dr. Goodwin attempts to get more funding for the hospital, bring medical assistance to local neighborhoods, and help the hospital staff get the benefits they need. Meanwhile, he struggles with a cancer diagnosis, loses his wife in a car accident, and navigates relationships with his hospital staff. While Dr. Goodwin may seem like the perfect altruistic TV doctor, he is actually based on a real-life doctor named Eric Manheimer.
New Amsterdam True Story: Who Was Eric Manheimer?
Eric Manheimer was the medical director of New York's Bellevue Hospital from 1997 to 2012, and is the inspiration for the streaming medical drama New Amsterdam. Manheimer spent his career being a trailblazer for patients and medical staff alike and documented his work in a series of 150 notebooks which he then developed into a book called "Twelve Patients: Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital." During his time at Bellevue, Manheimer had a particular interest in social and political problems, especially when they became relevant in the hospital. While working as medical director, Manheimer faced major events happening in New York, such as 9/11.
In Manheimer's book and journals, it's clear that he has a strong devotion to patient care. In an interview with MedPageToday, he said of his patients, "You need to know more about where they're from and what's going on [in their lives]; the context is missing. It's too narrow, too thin, too airless." As told in New Amsterdam and other medical shows, the doctor's dedication to providing medical care applied to all types of people as well, including prisoners. Currently, Manheimer is a clinical professor at the New York University School of Medicine.
How Much Of New Amsterdam Is Actually True?
Though New Amsterdam is a fictional series, many aspects of it are inspired by true events that happened to Manheimer. One particular storyline that appeared in New Amsterdam was Manheimer's cancer diagnosis. Manheimer dealt with squamous cell carcinoma during his time at Bellevue, and this plot point appeared in New Amsterdam season 1. Moreover, New Amsterdam took many references and ideas from Manheimer's journals, including a storyline about a terminally ill patient who is sent back to their home country to see their children, as stated by the New York Post.
While Max Goodwin's pioneering spirit may seem overly optimistic to New Amsterdam characters and viewers, Eric Manheimer was the real-life blueprint of this ambitious character. His countless stories and experiences made up the many great plot lines and themes of the five seasons of New Amsterdam. Manheimer and his work are certainly subjects that deserve to be brought to the screen for viewers to experience.