Free Film: Saturday, January 15, 2022
10:00 AM on Zoom followed by discussion

Registration is free. Register HERE

Film Power to Heal is about Medicare and the Civil Rights Revolution

DISCUSSION FOLLOWS With Local and National Subject Matter Experts Featuring: Dr. Wayne Forde Family Physician Cleveland Dr. Jeffrey Ponsky Board Director, Medical Lead Medworks Brian Mallory Poor People’s Campaign Ohio Ben Day DirectorHealthcare-NOW!

The untold story of how the twin struggles for racial justice and healthcare intersected: creating Medicare and desegregating thousands of hospitals at the same time.

POWER TO HEAL tells a poignant chapter in the historic struggle to secure equal and adequate access to healthcare for all Americans. Central to the story is the tale of how a new national program, Medicare, was used to mount a dramatic, coordinated effort that desegregated thousands of hospitals across the country practically overnight.

Before Medicare, disparities in access to hospital care were dramatic. Less than half the nation’s hospitals served black and white patients equally, and in the South, 1/3 of hospitals would not admit African-Americans even for emergencies.

Using the carrot of Medicare dollars, the federal government virtually ended the practice of racially segregating patients, doctors, medical staffs, blood supplies and linens. POWER TO HEAL illustrates how Movement leaders and grass-roots volunteers pressed and worked with the federal government to achieve a greater measure of justice and fairness for African-Americans.

Grade Level: 9 – 12, College, Adults
US Release Date: 2018     Copyright Date: 2018
DVD ISBN: 1-948745-14-3

Sponsored by:              Health Care for All Ohioans Hosted by:                     SPAN Ohio Made possible by a Neighbor Up Action Grant to Good Health, for you & your neighbors, from The Cleveland Foundation Common Ground 2021 and Neighborhood Connections.

Co-sponsors of the event include: Cleveland Branch NAACP Cleveland Jobs with Justice Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus HealthCare for All Colorado Foundation Healthcare-NOW! Medworks – Unconditional Care Momentum 4 Medicare 4 All Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition  Ohio PNHP (Physicians for a National Health Program) Ohio Poor People’s Campaign Organize Ohio Ohio Move to Amend State Network Our Revolution Ohio UHCAN Ohio (Universal Health Care Action Network) UUJO  (Unitarian Universalist Justice Ohio) West Shore Faith Communities Together (West Shore FaCT) CLASH (Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing)