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Dr. Lauren Bloom, is the head of the Emergency Department at New Amsterdam Medical Center and a respected doctor both at the hospital and in her field.

Shortly after Max Goodwin is hired as Medical Director at New Amsterdam, it is revealed that Lauren is dependent on Adderall, perhaps even a drug addict. This begins complicating her work, while also causing tensions with fellow doctors, particularly Dr. Sharpe. She eventually seeks help for her addiction after an analysis by Iggy, who determines that her childhood trauma has increased her dependency on the drug.

While doing her rehab, Lauren decides to retire as a doctor believing she no longer deserves to work in that profession. One day, she decides to present her retirement to Max but since she couldn't find him at New Amsterdam she shows up at his apartment only to find him covered with blood of Georgia and her having severe contractions. After a very complicated intervention, Lauren is able to keep both Georgia and Luna alive enough for the medical staff of the hospital could take care of them, and makes amends with Sharpe who was with the other doctors. However, while they were in the ambulance on the way to New Amsterdam a patient from the hospital crashes the ambulance causing a disastrousious accident, with Lauren being one of the most affected having her left tibia fractured.

Three months later, Bloom is discharged from rehab and returns to her job at the ED, although suffering a great pain due to her choice to not taking any painkillers. After a long time she is finally able to recover from her injury and is succesfully able to work before, even better since she is no longer taking any medication. After this she starts to rebuilt her relationship with her mother and face her past traumas.

Background[]

Lauren was raised in New York City in a wealthy, upper class, Jewish family. Her mother Jeanie, whom Lauren refers to as "Hurricane Jeanie," was a New York socialite. Her father, ran a Dermatologist clinic, eventually turning it into a million-dollar business. He was often away from the house leaving Lauren to look after her alcoholic mother when she was as young as seven-years-old.

A year before Lauren went to college, her father passed away. Lauren attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, rather than attending NYU as she had promised her family. After Lauren left home, her sister, Vanessa, was left to look after their mother. Lauren blames this — and herself — for being the reason her sister has been to rehab four times.

Lauren has been abused and neglected by her parents from a young age. Her father was absent her whole life and she was forced to take care of her alcoholic mother.

On New Amsterdam[]

Adderall addiction[]

As a doctor, Bloom works tirelessly to maintain her diagnosis of ADHD, including how she manages it. She has been on Adderall since the age of 12 to manage the effects. She does however, become addicted to the Adderall and needs it to function. This leads to her hiding this fact by storing her Adderall in an ibuprofen bottle.

Bloom eventually becomes weary of her addiction and how this impacts her ability to do her job, leading her to passing off patients to other doctors. Sharpe eventually confronts Bloom about her situation in Six or Seven Minutes and she reveals her addiction. Bloom tells Sharpe that she is going to take time off to figure things out. The conversation continues and in Anima Sola, Sharpe realizes that the situation is no longer viable. Sharpe eventually reports her to Max, the Medical Director, and he orders that she is evaluated by Dr. Frome.

During the evaluation in The Blues, Bloom reveals information about her past, including about her younger sister and how her decision to go to medical school impacted her. At the end of the episode, Bloom agrees to go to rehab for treatment, and Max allows her to go on leave — with the rest of the hospital under the notion that she is taking regular time off.

Rehab[]

Rehab is difficult for Bloom, and things are slow going. When a patient needs medical attention in the room nearby, a nurse asks for Bloom's help. Having lost faith in her ability as a doctor, Bloom tells the nurse to find a doctor, however it is clear that there isn't one to be found. Bloom eventually realizes that she is the only hope, and helps stabilise him. She notices a pill bottle nearby and steals this, however she never takes the pills. When Floyd hears of her situation, he goes to visit her, which seems to make things better.

After leaving rehab, Bloom returns to New Amsterdam Medical Center to meet with Max. She wishes to tell him that she will not be returning back to the hospital, however he has already been sent home on medical leave. Instead, she visits his apartment and finds him covered in blood as Georgia's placenta has ruptured. She tells Max that Georgia has lost too much blood and the baby needs to be delivered, but he must choose between the baby or Georgia as it is unlikely both of them will survive. Max is unable to choose, so Bloom makes the difficult choice for him and delivers the baby.

Ambulance crash and leg Injury[]

Right after delivering Luna, once the ambulance arrives they all start going to the hospital as Georgia is losing a lot of blood. Sadly their ambulance is T-boned by another ambulance driven by a high patient that escaped New Amsterdam. Lauren was standing talking to the paramedics which lead her to get ejected through the windshield. From the survivors, she's the one who sustained the most and serious injuries. Her left tibia presents a rather impressive compound fracture.

In Your Turn, three months after, we see that she made it but is still wearing a walking boot and leaning on a cane to walk. She is still limping and her mobility is impaired. Her injury actually is a big part of her arc in Season 2. Because of her addiction, she decides to go through it without painkillers. Since her first day back, the pain is excruciating and she tries several ways not to think about it without much success. Besides her pain, we see that as a ED doctor, she's frustrated, she is unable to run and be quick which is important in the Emergency Room.

After trying multiple things to deal with the pain she ends up having sex with her Physical Therapist, Dr. Zack Ligon. It goes on for a while until she understands that she's not dealing with her pain by doing that but trying to replace drugs with sex so she decides to stop it and deal with the issue by going to an NA meeting. She then discovers that Dr. Ligon is actually also a recovering addict.

In the Good Soldiers, she gets good news about her leg. Her orthopedic surgeon tells her she's cleared for her second surgery—Tibia reconstructive surgery. Even if it was great news, she's informed that the pain will be unbearable and that she'll have to take pills. She refuses but is told that not doing could impact her recovery. Therefore, keeping her from being an ED doctor. She tells Helen who instantly proposes to support her and deal with the pills but Lauren ends up going to Ligon as he understands her addiction.

On surgery day, she is expecting her mother, who doesn't show up. Floyd shows how much he cares by being there for her after and checking on her during the surgery. After 12 hours on morphine they take her out and a few hours later, as she is about to take her painkiller after one hour in agony she realizes it's not there anymore. Of course, everyone thinks she took it and is asking another so no one falls and she stays this way in excruciating pain. There is a Code Silver at the hospital which leads to lockdown. Her and Ligon end up confined together in a room with a suffering patient with acute appendicitis. Lauren notices that it's about to rupture so she has to operate. The only way is by standing on one leg while Dr. Ligon holds her since putting any weight on her injured recently operated leg could cause permanent issues. She succeeds with the surgery. Once back in her room and resting, Zach reveals he took the pill along with a few others. She cuts all contact with him.

After a few weeks, she returns to work wearing a knee brace but free of any other walking aid. The surgery went well which leads her to have a relatively easy recovery. She makes a full recovery eventually.

Personality[]

Relationships[]

Floyd Reynolds[]

Season 1[]

In Pilot, it is revealed that Lauren is in a casual relationship with colleague, Floyd Reynolds. After the new Medical Director at New Amsterdam, Max Goodwin, fires the entire Cardio-Surgical Department, Lauren is the main reason that Reynolds is re-hired, and made the Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Max and his assistant, Dora, are discussing his To-Do List, when Dora informs Max that there is a cardiac patient being prepped for surgery. Max is confused, as he re-routed all new cardiac patients to University, but errantly forgot to re-route patients from Rikers. Dora suggests that Max shouldn't have fired the entire cardio-surgery department. Max defends his decision, stating that the entire department was corrupt. Lauren tells Max that Reynolds was not, leading Max to eventually rehire Reynolds, and make him the new Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery.

In the same episode, Floyd ends their casual relationship because he wants a serious relationship, and specifically, to get married and start a family, and that he wants his children to be Black. In Anthropocene, Lauren introduces Reynolds with her friend, Evie Garrison, Associate Director of New Amsterdam's Legal team.

In The Forsaken, Reynolds expresses serious concern after learning that Bloom is taking vacation time. Further, Reynolds is visibly distraught after learning that Lauren had been struggling with addiction to adderall, and is not taking a vacation, but in actually in rehab. At the end of the episode, Reynolds goes to visit her in person, and it is implied that despite being in a relationship with Evie, he still deeply cares for Lauren.

Season 2[]

In What the Heart Wants, Reynolds attempts to check in on Lauren by escorting her to her surgery, and when she asks why, Reynolds tells her that he thought she could use a friend. Lauren tells him that her mother is supposed to be coming. When it becomes apparent that her mother is not coming, Floyd asks if she is sure that she does not want him to stay with her, but she tells him that she is fine and to go back to work.

Reynolds, nevertheless, checks in on Lauren during her tibia realignment, but asks her surgeon to not tell Lauren that he came to check in on her surgery, stating that he knows that she knows he cares, but she doesn't like it when he cares.

Season 5[]

In Maybe Tomorrow, Lauren reveals that she had an abortion five years earlier, while giving a tour of New Amsterdam to visiting highschool students. Bloom tells the students that she was falling in love with the guy who got her pregnant and he, prior to this, told her that she didn’t fit into his future (It is clear that she referring to Reynolds).

Leyla Shinwari[]

Season 3[]

In Safe Enough, Leyla Shinwari accompanies a patient into the ED. Leyla suggests that the patient is suffering from a colles fracture of the distal radius. After Leyla tells Bloom that she was the patient's DriveTime driver, Bloom dismisses her-- and sarcastically gives her a five-star rating. Later, Leyla returns to the ED after she realized the patient left her wallet in her car. While returning her wallet, the patient goes into acute respiratory arrest. Bloom is busy treating an incoming patient, who was hit by a taxi, and sustained severe head and neck trauma. Leyla realizes that no one else is around to help, and subsequently grabs a syringe and stabs the patient in the chest. Lauren is furious about the situation and calls for security. But Bloom later realizes that Leyla was right about the patient, and goes to apologize to her. Bloom learns that Leyla was a pediatric attending who practiced medicine in Pakistan. Bloom also discovers that Leyla is living in her car, and so she offers to let her use the shower at New Amsterdam. Eventually, Lauren also allows Leyla to use a supply closet so that she can have someplace safe to sleep.

Eventually, Leyla is discovered by Dr. Mark Walsh, who calls security. Lauren attempts to tell Brantley the truth and that she is the one who let Leyla in, but Brantley tells Dr. Bloom that Leyla already told her that she did not know Dr. Bloom and found the supply closet and took up residence there of her own accord.

Lauren asks Leyla to stay with her.

In Radical, Leyla learns that she passed her board certification exams. Lauren, who did not know that Leyla took the boards at all, is suprised, but happy for Leyla. Leyla tells her that because she has a stable-living environment, she has had time to study for the boards. Leyla is excited because she can now practice medicine in the United States. In her excitement, Leyla kisses Lauren. Lauren, who is surprised, excuses herself, saying that she needs to get to work.

But, Lauren comes back that night, after having had the whole day to think about it, she reveals she's been thinking about Leyla all day and that her reaction was due to her surprise since she's not used to normal or real. Lauren then kisses Leyla.

In Pressure Drop, Lauren is shown to be in an abnormally good mood. However, after Dr. Sharpe tells Lauren that her ED is a mess, and that she's gone soft which is putting patients at risks, Lauren decides to end her relationship with Leyla. When Lauren tells Leyla that she makes her soft, and soft puts her patient's lives at risk, Leyla laughs at Lauren, and tells Lauren that all they need is balance. They ultimately do not break up.

In Death Begins in Radiology, Lauren learns that the residency match list came out, and that Leyla got a spot. However, Leyla tells Lauren that she was not offered a spot at New Amsterdam, but one in Spokane, Washington. After their conversation, Lauren immediately goes to confront the Residency Director, Hank, who oversaw the decision regarding which residents to make offers to. Lauren berates Hank, telling him that she deserves a spot at New Amsterdam. Hank tells Lauren that her application suggests that Dr. Shinwari does not. In particular, Hank tells Lauren that the medical school that Leyla attended, Khyber Medical University, has no international standing. Hank eventually tells Lauren that if she wants spot to open up for Leyla, the Dean of Medicine has been known to make allowances for the right price. Lauren leaves Hanks office, and has an outburst in a supply closet. Later, Leyla gets a call from the Residency Director at New Amsterdam, informing her that the Dean of Medicine opened a spot in the ED, and that they offered it to her. Leyla asks if Lauren had anything to do with this, and Lauren denies any involvement in the decision.

In More Joy, Lauren favours Leyla over the other ED residents and openly tells them about their relationship. Leyla objects to this. The next time Lauren and Leyla meet, Lauren yells at her for putting the O2 stat meter in the wrong place.

In We're In This Together, Lauren and Leyla show up in a taxi. The other residents make fun of Leyla and tell her to "be aware of her privilege." When she tells them she was living out of her car six months ago, the residents take the opportunity to complain about their own problems. Feeling terrible, Leyla tries to give up the extras Dr. Bloom has given her, but Bloom says that she should take advantage of the opportunity and do as best she can that way. Leyla feels she didn't earn her residency. They are called to help a patient and Leyla makes a correct diagnosis. Bloom gives the extras she gave Leyla to the other residents as well. She also tells Leyla to start paying rent.

In Same as it Ever Was, Lauren finds out that Leyla is letting Roxana, another resident, head the resident team. Lauren tells Leyla to toughen up. Leyla then treats a patient without using ultrasound guidance, against Lauren's order. Leyla explains that she trained in Kashmir in the Hizbul Mujahideen Uprising and thus learnt to do everything in the dark or during a mortar attack. Technology just slows her down. Lauren takes Leyla to a supply closet and Leyla tells her that the other residents were impressed and that they invited her out with them. Lauren tells her not to cross her again.

In This be the Verse, Dr. Bloom stops Dr. Shinwari from treating her mother, saying Mrs. Bloom is trying to get pills. Dr. Shinwari admits Mrs. Bloom to test her later, once the drugs are out of her system. Dr. Shinwari says she will figure out the source of the chronic pain, and finds an enlarged spleen. Dr. Bloom says it is because her mother is a long-time alcoholic. Mrs. Bloom tries to convince Dr. Shinwari to break up with Dr. Bloom, saying Lauren is a bad person. Dr. Shinwari persuades Dr. Bloom to look at the ultrasound and they conclude Mrs. Bloom has endometriosis. Lauren tests Leyla on her medical knowledge - when Leyla responds correctly, Lauren feeds her a spoonful of breakfast, saying she won't get a spoonful every time she responds because Americam medical care is not fair. Leyla tells her she is just grateful. When the hospital mentions her donation, Lauren tells them to keep it private and organises another, different donation to try to conceal it from Dr. Shinwari.

In In a Strange Land, when Dr Shinwari is offered a job by Reynolds, he tells her the doctors have to donate inordinate amounts of money to make a fifth residency spot open.

In Death is the Rule, Life is the Exception, Leyla asks Lauren how much she spent to create a new residency spot, and Lauren tells her $90,000. They are interrupted by Iggy. Leyla tells Lauren after work that she feels as if everything she has is earned by Lauren. When Lauren says she did it out of love, Leyla replies that Lauren tried to own her.

In Talkin' Bout a Revolution, Lauren calls Leyla and asks where she's living, fearing it might be somewhere unsafe. She witnesses a pedestrian get hit by lightning and attends to the emergency.

In The Crossover, Lauren tries to convince the residents to give her Leyla's new forwarding address because Leyla's transfer was unfinished. Zamaya hesitantly "hypothetically" gives Dr. Bloom the information in a note. Leyla is living at Linger Life Insurance Company, 17-07 Bollin Avenue in Queens, NY 11428.

In Family, Leyla asks Reynolds about Leyla, and he is quiet. When he next passes Lauren in the hallway, he tells her that Leyla asked him for a recommendation. Lauren waits for Leyla in Reynolds' office. When she arrives, Leyla is frustrated with the way Lauren stalked her. Lauren gives her a sincere apology, recognising that she tried to control Leyla with money and violated her trust and boundaries. Lauren says she'll regret what she did for the rest of her life, but that Leyla's residency spot is still open. Lauren is leaving.

In Unto the Breach, Leyla tells Lauren not to leave. She says they can work together and tells Lauren she is needed at New Amsterdam. Leyla refuses to make herself the reason Lauren leaves, saying she'll reapply for her residency somewhere else. While treating a patient, Lauren notices he has amphetamines in his bag. She pockets them, and changes treatment course accordingly. She gives the amphetamines to Sharpe, and tells her that she's triggered by everything in the ED. She wants to quit, but if she did then Leyla would too, and she can't have that. Lauren reveals that she wants to punish herself forever for what she did to Leyla.

In All Night Long, Lauren hides poorly behind a plant to avoid Leyla. When Leyla confronts her, Lauren tells her she's trying to give her space. Leyla tells Lauren that her visa has problems and she thinks she's being deported. Lauren gives her money for the lawyer. Leyla says that there was a glitch in the paperwork and she never got notices about her visa because she was living in her car. Her refugee status was being revoked, and she was at risk of being sent back to Pakistan. She tried to get a lawyer through the government and pro bono programs to no avail. Lauren gives her $ 10,000 for a retainer and $10,000 a month for a lawyer. She also lets Leyla use Lauren's address so that the case can be winnable. Leyla finds Casey's badge, then Casey. Lauren trails behind. Leyla searches for a suture while Lauren holds the wound together. Leyla finds a caulking gun and Lauren injects the caulk into Casey. Leyla calls 911. In the ambulance, Casey tells Lauren that he's very happy to see her with Leyla. Lauren explains that while she can easily give Leyla the money, Leyla will resent her for it because the relationship will be transactional. During Casey's surgery, Leyla apologises for asking for money. Lauren agrees to give it to Leyla because Leyla is awe-inspiring, being an immigrant who has faced many challenges. Lauren says she still loves Leyla romantically, but also as a person, and she wants to help Leyla succeed. Both cry.

In No Ifs, Ands, or Buts, Leyla gives Lauren a paper bag. Lauren assumes it's a bagged lunch, but Leyla tells her it's $ 1000 because she's paying back her loan. Lauren says she won't count it because she trusts Leyla. Leyla says she'll have more the next week, but she can't leave a paper trail - the repayments have to be in cash. Leyla asks Casey for advice regarding the stress with Leyla, saying she wants to alleviate the stress by destroying her sobriety. She laughs off Casey's suggesting of "meditation and exercise". Lauren lashes out at an alternative medicine practicioner, to whom she then explains some of the situation. The practicioner asks how she can help. Lauren continues to receive parcels of money from Leyla. Leyla tells Lauren she won't need to borrow more because her case isn't winnable - she doesn't have a stable address. Lauren tells Leyla to live at her house. Leyla is concerned that it would hurt Lauren's sobriety, but Lauren says she's changed. The two share an uneasy hug.

In Castles made of Sand, Lauren and Leyla bump into each other in the bathroom. Lauren grabs her toothbrush and leaves, forgetting toothpaste. She brushes her teeth with baking soda instead. While explaining safe sex to a group of prudish elderly people, Lauren makes a sex joke in reference to Dr. Shinwari to help loosen the tension. Leyla laughs in embarassment, and the two kiss when they get home.

In I'll Be Your Shelter, Lauren gets Leyla her favourite drink, a half-caf with two shakes of cinnamon and extra sauce. They kiss. Leyla and Lauren scheme to save a patient from sex trafficking. But when Leyla tries to officially get back together (implied: have sex), Lauren brings up the coffee from earlier. She says she noticed Leyla worrying if she has to pay her back. Lauren says Layla needs her apartment and money and immigration, but Layla doesn't need Lauren anymore. Lauren has all the power in the relationship; Leyla can't break up with her, or leave. Lauren moves "someplace safe".

In TBD, Lauren sleeps at Reynold's, who tells her to go back to her place. Lauren says she'd end up sleeping with Leyla. Lauren goes back to Leyla and asks if she can sleep in the spare room. Leyla accepts and sees that Leyla's new girlfriend is also living in the apartment.

In Big Day, Lauren references Leyla while counselling a man to tell his wife all that happened, because she says things don't get better unless you atone for them. She tells her sister that major work is being done on her apartment. When, later that night, she tries to tell her sister that she's sober, she wears the same jacket she wore when she told Leyla that she was an addict and when she goes to NA meetings.

Jeanie Bloom[]

Jeanie shows up at the hospital to try to make amends with her daughter by taking her to dinner. At the restaurant, Lauren tells her mom her first memory, and opens up a bit about the trauma that Jeanie has caused her. Her mother then tells she doesn't remember any of this which is surprising to Lauren. Lauren doesn't think it's true, but Dr. Kapoor confirms that in fact, it's totally possible that the long term substance abuse lead to that memory loss. Once she knows it's true, Lauren decides to reconnect with her and make new memories with her mom.

In a matter of seconds, Jeanie tries to put effort into their relationship by organising a surprise birthday for her with all her colleagues including Casey. But she got her birthday wrong. After Lauren realises that this was the reason Jeanie had met up with Casey, she ends up forgiving her. She shared the cake, saying they can't let perfectly good cake go to waste.

Not long after, we see Jeanie in This be the verse when she comes to see Lauren for pills to help her with extreme pelvic pain. At first, Bloom gets annoyed saying her mother is high and only wants more pills. She tries to kick her out, but Leyla feels sorry for her mother admits her to the ER anyway agitating Bloom even more, due to the fact that she believed Jeanie was faking a condition to try and coerce Bloom to prescribe her more drugs. This causes Jeanie to tell Leyla about Blooms past addiction to adderall, enraged she slams a prescription down and storms out. Later though Leyla brings Bloom the ultrasound and she reluctantly looks releasing her mother has endometriosis. This causes Lauren to apologies and Jeanie tells her about how hard it was living with endometriosis and being told she was just being dramatic. They later make amends.

Helen Sharpe[]

Season 1[]

Lauren and Helen are seen to be on good terms and are good friends, partially due to being the only female members among all chief of departments at New Amsterdam. However, their relationship begins to shatter after Lauren confesses to Helen about abusing of Adderall. This makes Sharpe to distrust her and checks on her personal belongings to find her pills, something Lauren takes really bad and gets angry with her. Helen, worried about Lauren's behavior goes and reports this to Max, who forces her to have a session with Iggy to give her a license and recover.

They wouldn't see each other again for the rest of the season, mainly due to Sharpe's guilt for what she did to Bloom. However, in the season finale, Lauren unexpectedly shows up and saves Georgia and Luna. There, they finally meet for the first time after many weeks and have an honest conversation, with Helen sincerely apologizing with Bloom, but Lauren instead says she saved her life and is thankfull for what she did, finally making amends.

Season 2[]

Three months after the accident, Lauren and Helen become closer and their friendship seems to have improved. The day Lauren was discharged and oficially returned to her job at the ED, she goes to the balcony and is seen quietly suffering from the pain of her leg and then Helen approaches and comforts her saying that she is there for her. After this Helen gets the job to supervise Lauren's drug tests.

Now their relationship has improved to the point they share to each other intimate things, like when Lauren confesses to Helen that she'd sex with Zach Ligon in order to suppress her pain and get a distraction.

Casey Acosta[]

Casey and Lauren have worked closely together for years. As the head of nurses of the ED, Casey often acts as Lauren's right hand and confidant. Their relationship is similar to that of siblings and are best friends, with Casey looking after Lauren even when she doesn't asks for it but is aware she needs it. Casey is the first person in New Amsterdam that Lauren tells about her ADHD and the Adderall she takes, while Casey often is worried about the long hours of overwork she takes. Lauren also told him about her traumatic past with her mother and her unresolved feelings with Jeannie and Casey was the one who adviced Lauren about trying to focus on the posibility to create new memories with her mother instead of focusing only in the past and even organized a birthday celebration for her with the help of her mother.

Trivia[]

  • Lauren has ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder) and manages it with stimulant medication. She is ashamed of it, and of how much medication she is taking leading up to her admission of addiction, dependency and abuse. Because of this she keeps the pills in an ibuprofen bottle as a disguise.[1]
  • When she was a kid, her first crush was a "one eyed meteor beast" from the comic Sandstorm.
  • As mentioned in S1 E13, Lauren went to Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington.
  • She feels that people don't like her or care about her but tolerate her.
  • She has a small tattoo of a star on her right hand.
  • She describes herself as an "interesting child".
  • Lauren tends to put her left arm on her hip.
  • Lauren snores when she sleeps.
  • She is a Pisces.

Appearances[]

References[]

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