A review by beckimoody29
The Hospital: Life, Death, and Dollars in a Small American Town by Brian Alexander

5.0

If I wasn't already upset about medical care in America, I would be after reading this book. The author has unprecedented access to the behind the scenes working of a small town hospital, attending board meetings and interviewing everyone from local politicians, to executives, to doctors and nurses and EMT technicians. Interviews with patients reveal how decisions made affect actual patients. Despite the current political landscape, there are no villains here (except maybe the big conglomerates) --just a poorly cobbled together system focused on profits over health. Everyone involved wants to save lives and do good, but are forced to "play the game" in order to survive. These aren't the guys retiring with billion dollar stock options. This is the CFO paying three times as much for saline (literally bags of salt water!!!) because he doesn't order enough volume. Alexander backs up his interviews with solid reporting and research into the history of health care and the current landscape.