Pat Travis (Troy Evans) is a Vietnam war veteran who needs heart bypass surgery and heads off to the government-funded Monument Heights Veterans' Hospital in Washington D.C. However, when he gets there, he finds a hospital in complete chaos, riddled with lethargic, insidious bureaucracy and unable to accommodate new patients due to the government's 'creeping cutback' policy. There, he meets wiseguy veterans Luther Jerome (Keith David), who introduces him to the hospital's hectic situation, and 'Shooter' Polaski (Leo Burmester), who shortly drives through the hospital's entrance and starts a shooting rampage with his M16 after being issued an Article 99 form - which states the hospital finds the patient eligible for treatment, but cannot be treated immediately as the supposed ailment is not service-related.