In “The People’s Hospital,” Ricardo Nuila sheds light on the challenges in US healthcare but also shares that there’s hope. Children of immigrants grappling with the complexities of healthcare for their loved ones will resonate with Ricardo’s unique perspective. Informed by both his medical expertise and Salvadoran background, we discuss the human side of healthcare and navigating “Medicine Inc.” with cultural and linguistic barriers.

Ricardo Nuila is a writer, teacher, and practicing doctor. He is an associate professor of medicine, medical ethics, and health policy at Baylor College of Medicine, where he directs the Humanities Expression and Arts Lab (HEAL) program.

• The importance of human contact
• Writing for a broad audience, not doctors
• Showing people they have power in their healthcare
• Seeing hope in Ben Taub hospital
• Great healthcare in a public hospital
• Healthcare now is geared toward making money
• Fee for service care motivates doctors to provide more services for more patients
• What is Medicine Inc? An industry at war with each other
• Almost impossible for patients to be good consumers of healthcare
• The US spends double of what some comparable European countries pay
• Public healthcare patients pay reasonable costs because there’s no profit incentive
• Teaching doctors how to better communicate with patients
• Challenging a doctor’s authority to get better information
• How can we maintain our cultural identity and still be healthy?
• Algorithmania - how strict adherence to protocol blinds us to the humanity of patients
• The pressure of first gen and second gen immigrant children providing help to the family
• How immigrant families care for their sick loved ones
• The impact of the busy American lifestyle on health and care
• How can we better consumers of medical care for ourselves and our family

Show Resources:

• RicardoNuila.com
• “The People’s Hospital” at Barnes and Noble
• “The People’s Hospital” on Amazon
• Ben Taub Hospital
• Baylor College of Medicine

Music:

“Midnight Sunshine” by Robbie Velasquez