Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'
The Hospital: Life, Death, and Dollars in a Small American Town by Brian Alexander
1 review
chambecc's review against another edition
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.5
This book caught my eye a while back, and I eventually decided to read it because it covered a broad cross-section of issues I am interested in: the tangled, maddeningly byzantine web that is healthcare in the USA, the struggles of small town America, the replacement of high-paying jobs in manufacturing with low wage service work, and the general erosion of the social fabric in many of this country's communities.
Bryan, Ohio is basically a microcosm of the country at large, especially its rural areas. Although it's on the poorer end, it's not particularly unique in terms of the issue it faces - many, many other small towns in this country whether in the heartland or elsewhere face the exact same issues as Bryan does. (Interesting anecdote: Bryan is where the Etch-A-Sketch toy used to be made. They are now manufactured in China.)
Alexander does a good job of painting the picture of healthcare in these places, told through the story of Bryan's community hospital and the people who staff and administer it. But easily the best part of the book is the stories of the town's residents - like Keith, a diabetic father of a special needs child who rationed his insulin until he eventually needed to have his big toe, and then later a good chunk of his foot, amputated. Or Valerie, a mom who worked 3 jobs and barely sleeps in order to make ends meet. These people have raw, heartbreaking stories - and it's a testament to the narrative of Alexander that you simply cannot help but root for them as they struggle to navigate a maze of low-paying jobs, lacking social infrastructure, and a hodgepodge medical "system" built for profit's maximization.
It also talks about the social ill that seems to pervade so many communities in America today - resulting in suicides, drug use, and other symptoms of malaise. The book is, in a word, real. Some of the stories in it have happy endings. Many don't. You'll remember a lot of them long after you've put the book down.
Bryan, Ohio is basically a microcosm of the country at large, especially its rural areas. Although it's on the poorer end, it's not particularly unique in terms of the issue it faces - many, many other small towns in this country whether in the heartland or elsewhere face the exact same issues as Bryan does. (Interesting anecdote: Bryan is where the Etch-A-Sketch toy used to be made. They are now manufactured in China.)
Alexander does a good job of painting the picture of healthcare in these places, told through the story of Bryan's community hospital and the people who staff and administer it. But easily the best part of the book is the stories of the town's residents - like Keith, a diabetic father of a special needs child who rationed his insulin until he eventually needed to have his big toe, and then later a good chunk of his foot, amputated. Or Valerie, a mom who worked 3 jobs and barely sleeps in order to make ends meet. These people have raw, heartbreaking stories - and it's a testament to the narrative of Alexander that you simply cannot help but root for them as they struggle to navigate a maze of low-paying jobs, lacking social infrastructure, and a hodgepodge medical "system" built for profit's maximization.
It also talks about the social ill that seems to pervade so many communities in America today - resulting in suicides, drug use, and other symptoms of malaise. The book is, in a word, real. Some of the stories in it have happy endings. Many don't. You'll remember a lot of them long after you've put the book down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident and Medical trauma
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, and Suicide
More...