"A day in the life of an American 'walk-in' clinic." Chapter 19: The Waiting Room

For our second semester Journalism class, we were asked to watch the 2012 documentary film The Waiting Room. Our instructors asked us to post a blog detailing our experience, comparing/contrasting the American healthcare system with the Canadian healthcare system, and reviewing the film based on what we know about effective documentaries.

This is that blog post.

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The Film

Watch The Waiting Room. No matter who you are, where you're from, what political stance you may take, how you feel about ObamaCare, how you feel about the Canadian healthcare system, how often you've been sick, or how strong your immune system is, watch the documentary.

Not because it's a revolutionary film, not because it's a one-of-a-kind critique of a broken system, not because it'll change your life...

Watch it because you need to recognize and understand the giant social gap that exists in the so-called first-world Country that is the United States of America.

The film is a snapshot - a day in the life of an American 'walk in' clinic/emergency room in Oakland CA. There are some angels working there. Literal guardian angels that are sacrificing their lives for the basic needs of others, and the film really paints an insane portrait of what these people go through every single day.

Evoking empathy isn't an easy task for a filmmaker. Being able to tell a story without spin, without bias, without preconceived notions about what narrative you think the audience ought to follow is an art form, and Peter Nicks did an incredible job directing this movie and telling this story.

There are hundreds of angry, sick, pained, and frustrated individuals that are simply looking to be cured. Healed. Relieved of their suffering. It's painful to watch at times.

The Issues

I've read multiple blogs from my colleagues and most of them are saying this documentary is a commentary on the broken medical system that the United States is currently attempting to remedy through ObamaCare and other measures.

I don't think that was the only intention with the film, though.

I came away with a different sense of what was wrong with the society being portrayed here. There are serious economical and social issues that need to be addressed before the problem is solved. Giving people universal healthcare helps, sure, but it doesn't attack the weed at its roots - it simply trims the leaves. Temporary band-aid fixes for a serious, deeply-rooted problem.

At points in the film, there are people being carted into the emergency room with gunshot wounds, stab wounds, drug overdoses, and a plethora of other completely avoidable problems. There is no possible way medical professionals can keep up, or more importantly, give the rest of the people with legitimate diseases and ailments proper care.

According to KQED, a Public Media site for Northern California, there were 2,091 armed robberies and 783 shootings reported in Oakland alone in 2012.

I don't mean for this to turn into another anti-gun rant but when a room full of hundreds of legitimately sick people can't receive the treatment they need because the doctors and nurses are busy trying to save another gunshot victim that EMS just carted into the hospital... something needs to change. And I think that's part of what Nicks wanted us to realize.

I walked out of this documentary thankful, though. Thankful that I've been blessed with the opportunity to grow up in Canada. Staying healthy shouldn't completely cripple you financially and it's simply not right that a guy my age got a tumor in his nut, and just because he doesn't have a job with health insurance, he doesn't know how he's going to afford the surgery. That's completely unfair and hopefully these imbalances in America are addressed in Obama's last 4 years.

The Rest

We're spoiled in Canada. Nothing is perfect and our system is far from it, but if one takes a look mere hours south of us to see what the poor, downtrodden, uninsured people of the States have to deal with, there's no way we'd ever think complaining about our imperfect system was justified.

My experience, and my family's experience, has been nothing short of incredible. My brother has needed multiple surgeries, I've broken bones and been hit in the head with a god damn javelin and I've still lived an extremely comfortable life. (thanks in part to my parents working their asses off to give us the best life possible, too.)

I can't imagine being financially devastated because of something I couldn't control, and The Waiting Room vividly shows us that there are probably thousands of families whose reality is exactly that.

Watch it. It's worth your 81 minutes.

                                                                                                                  -NxB

Playing: Path Of Exile by Grinding Gear Games 

Listening to: Marvin Gaye - "Sexual Healing" (PRETTY MUCH ON REPEAT)