Published by: Wright Lassiter on 12/21/2011 2:12:03 PM
As CEO of a public healthcare system, it’s not often that I get a chance to be an insider in the world of movie making. But in this job, I’ve learned to expect the unexpected and in this case, it’s The Waiting Room, a powerful new documentary film featuring patients of Alameda County Medical Center. The film will debut at a number of movie festivals early next year and will air on PBS in the fall.
When the director Pete Nicks first approached us, we were concerned such a film had the potential to portray our patients and system in an unflattering manner. We had moved the organization through a challenging six-year period that returned ACMC to financial health. We were also in the midst of transforming ourselves into a patient-centric organization that would greatly improve issues like waiting time for patients. But after meeting with Pete, our executive team and our Board of Trustees approved the proposal and we opened Highland Hospital to hours of interviewing and filming of our patients and our employees.
The Waiting Room is powerful, human and real. It tracks spontaneous, first-person experiences, thoughts and emotions of our patients during trying times in their lives and this is presented against a backdrop of great change and uncertainty in our national health care system. The movie’s human message comes through loud and clear, demonstrating the urgent need for our nation to support safety net hospitals. It centers on the humanity of both our patients and caregivers. We’re very proud of it and we hope the movie will contribute to a deeper understanding among the general population of the primacy of public health.
The film also showcases the talent that is housed at ACMC, portraying the high quality of care we provide in many specialty areas and our high standards of service excellence embodied in the respectful and compassionate approach we bring to our work. By extension, this also speaks to the same qualities of many of the public hospitals throughout the nation.
ACMC exists for all the residents of the county, but as a public health system we have the equally important mission as a safety net and as a provider of a full range of emergency, trauma, inpatient and outpatient services without regard to the patient’s ability to pay. The Waiting Room shows in a very real and touching way the gratitude of our patients that their fellow citizen taxpayers and local government would provide for their healthcare needs. It also demonstrates the incredible humanity and resilience of Highland Hospital patients as they are confronted by tremendous personal challenges.
The project is ongoing and next we will team with the production crew to create a community engagement and storytelling platform for Highland Hospital. The filmmakers seek to replicate the project in waiting rooms of hospitals around the U.S. as the national conversation about healthcare continues. We believe the film and the ongoing work provides clear evidence of the important role that public hospitals play, and one that each of our colleagues understand as they live the realities of “The Waiting Room” each day.
I encourage everyone to see the Waiting Room next year. If you’d like to view some of the trailers for the movie, go to http://oaklandlocal.com/article/oakland-documentary-project-highlights-highland-hospitals-unheard-voices.
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Wright L. Lassiter, III
Chief Executive Officer, Alameda County Medical Center