Among the many voices surrounding the Occupy movement, Occupy Healthcare is one that's gaining volume. The political group believes the United States should host a healthcare system that works to meet the needs of individuals and the community as a whole. Here are some of the men and women whom have joined the Occupy Healthcare movement.
[Related content: 6 things to know about Occupy Healthcare]
Ben Miller, MD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. He is responsible for integrating mental health across all three of the Department’s core mission areas, including clinical, education and research. Dr. Miller chooses to occupy healthcare because he believes the community deserves a truly patient-centered health system that works.
Kevin Bernstein, MD, MMS, is a family medicine resident and advocate for primary care. He is the co-founder of the "Future of Family Medicine Blog" and a leading social media contributor for family medicine. He chooses to occupy healthcare to hold medical schools responsible for fraudulent reports of primary care production. He also wants to bring medical education and research to the 99% within communities, not the 1% in the tertiary academic centers.
Mark Ryan, MD, is a family physician in Richmond, Virginia. He has spent his career working with medically underserved communities in Virginia and overseas. He believes that in a nation with resources such as ours, affordable, safe and effective healthcare should be available to all. He feels that he has not raised enough ruckus about this, and is hoping to remedy this.
Joel High is a healthcare consultant who works with healthcare organizations around the country. He assists them in implementing patient-centered care. Joel is passionate about creating change in healthcare that impacts the patient experience and brings meaning back to the work of healthcare professionals.
Carmen Gonzalez is a clinical trial patient recruitment strategist who is dedicated to making access to better healthcare a reality along with making clinical information more accessible and reader-friendly to patients. She occupies healthcare to help provide everyone with access to good healthcare regardless of their status, income or location.
Click here to watch a short video in which Gonzalez voices her opinions regarding the U.S. healthcare system's disparities.
April C. Foreman, MD, is a licensed psychologist practicing in rural Kansas. She serves some of the most disabled and disadvantaged people in her state. Foreman occupies healthcare because she believes we all deserve truly amazing healthcare. She encourages people to take small, reasonable risks so that they can have a life worth living. She blogs for OccupyHealthcare.net for the same reasons.
Nate Osit is your average friendly Health IT geek, and has his own blog. Nate occupies healthcare because he believes health shouldn't be a commodity. He says profit driven healthcare and social inequality make hims sick. He also occupies in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, because he believes in healthcare for the 99%.
David Napoli is the director of Corporate Analysis and Health Care Economics for Rocky Mountain Health Plans. He is currently pursuing his PhD in health services research, with a focus on bio-statistics, from the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Health. He has worked and consulted in the healthcare industry in various capacities for the past dozen years. David is occupying healthcare because he believes we deserve a collaborative, efficient and effective patient-centric system which is sustainable.
