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.

56 minutes

Directed by Charles Burnett & Daniel Loewenthal
Produced by Barbara Berney, Roberta Friedman, Daniel
Loewenthal
A film by Barbara Berney
Editor: Daniel Loewenthal
Writers: Anna Reid Jhirad, Leslie Clark
Music: Stephen James Taylor
Executive Producers: Tammy Robinson, Martin Dornbaum
Narrator: Danny Glover
A BLB Productions, LLC production

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