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.

Web Page: http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/pth.html

Reviews
"Every scholar, student, professional, and patient of public health and medical care should see this film - and discuss it. It stands as an extraordinary correction to the collective amnesia about race and health and a deeply considered tribute to the struggles for racial justice forged by so many during the implementation of Medicare. The testimonies, archival footage, and historical argument this documentary marshals in such a compelling manner is essential to our education as health care professionals and scholars. It is not an overstatement to say that Power to Heal is a key corrective to a lesser known, but necessary historical reclamation of the relationships between health and race in America."