A Spirit of Charity
Restoring the Bond between America and Its Public Hospitals
by Mike King
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Pub Date Jun 06 2016 | Archive Date Dec 06 2016
Description
'Any effort at health care reform must first understand the essential role of public hospitals, which is what makes A Spirit of Charity required reading for policy makers and health advocates alike.' - Otis Brawley, M.D., chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society; former director of the Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta
Most Americans have historically viewed the nation's great public hospitals as refuges of last resort for poor and uninsured people. But these iconic institutions, some recently closed, some renamed, others rebuilt -- have also served as a safety valve for the nation's highly profitable medical industrial complex. They are a key to understanding the evolution of America's $3 trillion health care system, not just for the poor, but the affluent as well, argues veteran journalist Mike King. Through an examination of their unique history and an incisive analysis of policy successes and failures, A Spirit of Charity reveals the remarkable story of why public hospitals matter and why they should play a more prominent role in our public policy discussions.
Most Americans have historically viewed the nation's great public hospitals as refuges of last resort for poor and uninsured people. But these iconic institutions, some recently closed, some renamed, others rebuilt -- have also served as a safety valve for the nation's highly profitable medical industrial complex. They are a key to understanding the evolution of America's $3 trillion health care system, not just for the poor, but the affluent as well, argues veteran journalist Mike King. Through an examination of their unique history and an incisive analysis of policy successes and failures, A Spirit of Charity reveals the remarkable story of why public hospitals matter and why they should play a more prominent role in our public policy discussions.
A Note From the Publisher
For nearly four decades Mike King worked as a reporter, Washington correspondent, science and medicine editor, and opinion writer for the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in Georgia. He and his wife live in Atlanta.
Advance Praise
Through stories of achievements, challenges and calamities at five large public hospitals in the U.S., King shows that medical excellence resides where few people expect to find it and how those centers are threatened by misplaced public priorities and political mythologies. --Hank Klibanoff, James M. Cox Jr. Professor of Journalism, Emory University; co-author, The Race Beat: The Press, The Civil Rights Struggle, and The Awakening of a Nation, 2007 Pulitzer Prize, history
In the spirit of investigative journalism, this assessment of public hospitals paints a grim picture of health care for the poor in America. ... [A Spirit of Charity is] a searing and sobering indictment of the public health care system that highlights the inequality of treatment. --Kirkus Reviews
In the spirit of investigative journalism, this assessment of public hospitals paints a grim picture of health care for the poor in America. ... [A Spirit of Charity is] a searing and sobering indictment of the public health care system that highlights the inequality of treatment. --Kirkus Reviews
Marketing Plan
Author reading and signing at The Carter Center in Atlanta on June 15.
Interviewed on NPR affiliate stations in Atlanta and Louisville.
Excerpts published in Atlanta Journal Constitution, Georgia Health News, and Creative Loafing.
Interviewed on NPR affiliate stations in Atlanta and Louisville.
Excerpts published in Atlanta Journal Constitution, Georgia Health News, and Creative Loafing.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781944962067 |
| PRICE | $26.95 (USD) |
Links
Featured Reviews
Melissa M, Reviewer
If you don’t set this book down with a great feeling of fury, you are not paying attention. The health care system in the United States is a nightmare of acronyms, agencies, and politicians. I would venture to say that most affluent educated citizens have no idea what the health insurance options are for an uneducated poor individual are, despite all of the press about Obamacare and the other health care initiatives of the last fifty years.
You can’t walk away from “Charity” claiming ignorance. With great clarity and precision King details the history of health care in the US, with an emphasis on the role of public hospitals. His indictment of the role state governments, particularly in the South is passionate and compelling.
I found this must-read book deeply disturbing, and one I could not put down until I was done.
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