"The Healthcare Divide" (2021 release; 55 min.) is a new documentary that takes a look at the growing disparity on every level between for-profit hospitals and public hospitals (a/k/a safety-net hospitals). As the documentary opens, we are in Chattanooga, TN, which is served by 3 major hospitals, one of which is Erlanger, a safety-net hospital located in downtown. We get a first hand account at how the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened Erlanger's financial position. The documentary then goes back in time to look at the origins of for-profit hospitals, starting in the late 60s/early 70s, and how they are systematically taking over the hospital industry... At this point we are 10 min. Into the documentary.
Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary in the long-running PBS Frontline franchise. This episode looks at the impact of for-profit hospitals on the overall industry. To say that it ain't a pretty picture would be the understatement of the year or decade. Two factors are decisive: systematically pursuing better insured and healthier patients, and shareholders' (more and more of them being private equity) interest in maxing out dividends as much as possible. The documentary follows the monetary trail left behind by several such private equity funds, and it is clear that money is the one and only guiding light, to the exclusion of everything else. Patient care is just an annoyance in the way of maximizing profits. But are they breaking any laws? As one expert puts it: "If you don't like it, don't get mad. Change the rules!" And so we here we are, with healthcare just being another way of make money, first and foremost. As the documentary shows, healthcare and hospitals is just another example in the inherent disparities in our society. The COVID-19 pandemic has only reinforced, if not accelerated, this trend.
"The Healthcare Divide" recently premiered on PBS and is now available on PBS On Demand and other streaming services. The DVD will be released in the months to come. If you have any interest in why hospitals flourish or flounder, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.
Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary in the long-running PBS Frontline franchise. This episode looks at the impact of for-profit hospitals on the overall industry. To say that it ain't a pretty picture would be the understatement of the year or decade. Two factors are decisive: systematically pursuing better insured and healthier patients, and shareholders' (more and more of them being private equity) interest in maxing out dividends as much as possible. The documentary follows the monetary trail left behind by several such private equity funds, and it is clear that money is the one and only guiding light, to the exclusion of everything else. Patient care is just an annoyance in the way of maximizing profits. But are they breaking any laws? As one expert puts it: "If you don't like it, don't get mad. Change the rules!" And so we here we are, with healthcare just being another way of make money, first and foremost. As the documentary shows, healthcare and hospitals is just another example in the inherent disparities in our society. The COVID-19 pandemic has only reinforced, if not accelerated, this trend.
"The Healthcare Divide" recently premiered on PBS and is now available on PBS On Demand and other streaming services. The DVD will be released in the months to come. If you have any interest in why hospitals flourish or flounder, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.
