Essay as Activism: Bearing Witness Through Craft

“…In my book, Too Poor to Die, I explain “patient dumping”:

‘Imagine being admitted to the hospital after falling and hitting your head on the sidewalk. Imagine you’re treated, then, in the middle of the night, they deem you no longer sick enough to stay in the hospital. At up to $10,000 a night, hospitals can’t keep you there for free. Imagine they hand you a bag with your clothes in it. Imagine they then drop you off at a bus stop in a hospital gown, but far enough away from the hospital, so you won’t easily make your way back. Imagine they do this in the dead of winter with freezing temps outside.’…”

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Too Poor to Die: The Hidden Realities of Dying in the Margins