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The Institute

Officially the "Dr. Maribella Aristizábal Institute of Bioethical Medicine", this Spanish Colonial-styled mansion was repurposed to be a clinic and research institute specialized in treating illnesses without regard for finances, as many charitable hospitals often do. The reason why it's called "bioethical" responds to that purpose - health, and by extension medical treatment, is a human right and not a privilege or a luxury to be paid; life is of utmost importance and must be safeguarded by any means necessary, and must be provided by people regardless of who or what they are. This in no means makes them a dubious clinic; while they may treat and accept someone who may be considered morally questionable, that doesn't mean they condone their acts. The Institute, however, is as dedicated to save their lives as that of the people they may have harmed. In that regard, they are neutral, if highly altruistic. As a hospital with both a charitable purpose and a highly-capable staff, they receive patients from other hospitals around the world with cases they may not be able to handle effectively - much like university-related hospitals, or charitable hospitals specialized in one kind of condition, such as St. Jude for pediatric cancer or Shriners for pediatric disabilities.

The Institute is named after its founder, Dr. Maribella Aristizábal (of which I'll speak separately). She founded it as a means to provide people in her adopted country of the Dominican Republic and eventually elsewhere with a highly capable center full of highly trained professionals dedicated to treating even the most unusual and bizarre cases, and became her legacy after her death (hence, the legacy Mireya visits). She founded it after moving to the United States, using some of her own funds, as well as those of other benefactors. It is comprised of several wings: the two visited in this arc are the triage/medical wing and the hospital/research.

* Triage/Medical Wing: holds the offices of most physicians, as well as that of the Institute's directive (such as Dr. Gus, who holds the position of General Director of the Institute). It is located on the mansion itself, and is the first area to be constructed. The mansion is divided into two areas: the triage, which is on the first floor, and the offices which are located on the second floor. The triage, reception and waiting areas are repurposed from the living room and study, front entrance and dining room, respectively. The mansion's rooms were repurposed as the medical offices, with the master bedroom used as a clerical office.
* Hospital/Research Wing: a much newer installation built behind the mansion and facing a downward slope, which extends roughly 2 stories upward and several floors downwards. Patients that require long-term care are provided with rooms to stay, much like your typical hospital, and the wing has various specialized units including an ICU, a neo-natal unit for poor mothers whose pregnancies may be complicated, and so on. The building's depths comprise the research wing, holding well-equipped laboratories for medical investigation purposes.

Of course, being that the Institute was founded by a member of the Stellae Errantes and is currently headed by another, it has ties to the organization. For one, the Stellae provided Maribella with the funds to expand the Institute and pay for its staff, though the late Dr. Aristizábal originally purchased the mansion on her own. The Institute's main purpose is to treat any kind of medical condition, whether mundane or supernatural; thus, some of the staff are trained in the use of medical treatments that may be considered outdated or superstitious, but that may be effective against the supernatural conditions of some patients. This part of the Institute is kept in utmost secrecy, and not everybody is informed about it. (In this arc, Jeff Harrison was informed that his "brother", who is actually his petrified father under a Persona mask of his brother, was to be taken here; however, he wasn't informed of the Institute's ties to the Stellae.) Because of this, the Institute has several "restricted area" floors where only authorized personnel and visitors may appear; some are essentially hospital rooms but for unique cases, and others...let's just say they're a different kind of "containment unit". Most of the cases they receive from other hospitals are actually patients that are affected by a curse or some sort of wasting disease that may not be treated by natural means, though the Institute does receive patients that suffer from more mundane conditions - the staff may treat a cancer patient with the same care and dedication as one whose body has been altered by magical means. The high chances of success of their treatments, both mundane and supernatural, are the reason why they're so valued.

The Institute and the Clinic
By now, you may have noticed that the Institute for Bioethical Medicine sounds very similar to an already established medical facility that has been mentioned a lot: the clinic founded by Maria Cardozo. Since the specifics of the clinic weren't established, Seuzz and I worked a few things to explain how the clinic was founded, and that gave me the idea to form the Institute as the predecessor for Maria's clinic in Brazil. The idea is that, during the time of Book of Masks, the existence of the clinic was essentially in flux - there's very few mentions of whether the clinic already exists, and of those, the vast majority are in "The Wandering Stars". Trust me when I tell you that I tried to stay very close to canon when inserting the Institute and how it relates to the Clinic, but it may seem contradictory at times.

Of what we've worked, Maribella's Institute came first, and Maria's Clinic was established later - during the waning days of the latter's popularity, when she decided to use her healing powers to good use (as all Perelandrans are wont to do). Whether she did it out of jealousy, as a way to one-up Maribella's legacy, or as a way to keep the Institute from being overwhelmed and thus relieving them of charge, the two still exist by the time of the TWS - the assumption I took was that, during the first two years after "Book of Masks", the Clinic in Brazil is either in construction or mostly incomplete, as "The Doppelganger"  takes more than 10 years after the events of the first Interactive, being the most notable mention. Though it's a mild spoiler, the Clinic will make an earlier appearance later in the timeline, roughly four years after the events in the BoM timeline. This establishes the Clinic relatively early but restricts its appearance during "Book of Masks" or during the first two years of "The Wandering Stars".

(This, of course, may cause a bit of a conflict with one of Masktrix's paths - the one that involves Shelly Nolan becoming golemized, Will collaborating with her friend Niamh, and eventually being pursued by Fane and taken to the Stellae - particularly "Happily Ever After" . Though it's not mentioned who deals with the reversal of Shelly's golemization, most readers will assume that she was taken to Maria's Clinic, since it was the canon establishment that could deal with her - that, or Nash's workshop, and that seems pretty odd. I'd love to clear that particular point out, since I feel Shelly may have been restored to "life" by Dr. Gus in the Institute, though the method was left wide open to consider another trait. Given what will be discussed later on this arc, it'll become a lot more relevant.)

Speaking of "The Doppleganger", one thing that Seuzz mentioned as a potential plot hole is that the Fane agent was taken to the Clinic for treatment, when by all means and purposes it would've been far more effective to be taken to the Institute - after all, whereas the Clinic serves as a better-known hub because of Maria's fame and is on a more centric place (and also a larger location), the Institute takes the more difficult cases. We arranged that as an oversight on the part of the Stellae, since having Dr. Gus handle Keith's doppleganger would've been probably a lot more effective than have Maria revive it, as the good doctor would've been potentially able to find the "dead man's switch" before it could be triggered. This hints as to how the Clinic and the Institute exist within the story - the Clinic is where most of the action will be set, but if there's a need to contain or treat something that would require investigation (such as some of Fane's experiments), the Institute is better suited for it. (I hope you guys don't mind working that out in this way). As for Maria's relationship with Dr. Gus...that'll probably be shown a bit later, but consider that Dr. Gus remains as director of the Institute for as long as possible, while Maria merely attends the Clinic in occasions, hinting at their purposes.

In any case, the Institute is arguably one of the more complicated locations to work with, but my way to really expand the canon. I'd definitely love to see how you guys use it. (Also, Masktrix - do you mind if we clear things out a bit? Wouldn't want to infringe on what you've written, after all!)