Breathe To Read

Breathe To Read

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Book: The People's Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine

 Book: The People's Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine

Author: Ricardo Nuila

Pages: 384


This is my 29th read for the year

This is the author's retelling of different patients he has encountered as a doctor at Ben Taub hospital.  Ben Taub is a public hospital in Houston Texas that caters to the poorest and neediest patients.  Often a last stop for those who are un or under insured - Ben Taub is there to help these patients get the care they need after they are turned away everywhere else.

Dr. Nuila takes us through the stories of 5 patients that stood out to him over his years at the hospital.  He weaves together their stories from beginning to end - retelling their desperation for care when they could not afford it.  The sickest of the sick are often the under or uninsured, and Dr. Nuila and his co-workers are there to give them the care they need at the same level as if they were wealthy.  Between those stories, Dr. Nuila talks about a broken health care system in where so many fall between the cracks when they cannot afford the care they need.  That even those with insurance - it often isn't enough.

This was a good book.  I am well aware of our terrible health care system and how even those of us with top line insurance it still doesn't mean it is perfect by any means.  I cannot imagine what it would be like to need life saving surgery and have to pay for most if not all of it just to stay alive.  Or not even be seen when they find out you don't have insurance.  It would cause so much anxiety.  The Dr. does a good job at stating the facts of the system and keeping his opinion to a minimum.  He talked passionately about his love for public hospitals and the clientle they service and how important those hospitals are.  I am glad I read this book.

Stars: 4



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