Support The Waiting Room by July 29! - July 24, 2012

The Waiting Room is an award-winning documentary that depicts a day in the life of the emergency room at Highland Hospital, which is part of NAPH member Alameda County Medical Center. According to Bruce Siegel, MD, MPH, NAPH’s president and chief executive officer, “The Waiting Room strips away the politics of health care and leaves us with the fundamental truth at the core of our system – it’s about the people. And as this honest and uncompromising film shows, the clinicians and administrators in safety net hospitals are constantly finding just one more bed, one more hour, one more resource to treat these patients when no one else will.”

This film has the power to change the health care debate, revealing to millions of Americans, including policymakers and industry leaders, the challenges all safety net hospitals face in treating America’s most vulnerable patients – long wait times, limited resources and patients with complex, chronic diseases. But it also shows the courage rarely discussed, but often seen, in patients who face tremendous personal challenges and staff who work tirelessly and against all odds.

The Waiting Room will be independently released this fall in select communities. But the filmmakers need your support to bring this critically important documentary to theaters across the country. The filmmakers must reach their pledge goal by July 29 for the funding necessary to bring this story to theaters nationwide, which will ultimately engage a national audience and truly impact health care. Don’t wait. Support for The Waiting Room is support for the safety net.