County, David A. Ansell, MD, MPH Introduction by Quentin Young
County, David A. Ansell, MD, MPH Introduction by Quentin Young
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County
Life, Death, and Politics at Chicagos Public Hospital

Author: David A. Ansell, MD, MPH; Introduction by Quentin Young

Narrator: Bronson Pinchot

Unabridged: 7 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/11/2011

Synopsis

The amazing tale of "County" is the story of one of America's oldest and most unusual urban hospitals. From it's inception as a "Poor House" dispensing free medical care to indigents, Chicago's Cook County Hospital has been both a renowned teaching hospital and the healthcare provider of last resort for the city's uninsured. County covers more than thirty years of its history, beginning in the late 1970s when the author began his internship, to the "Final Rounds" when the enormous iconic Victorian hospital building was replaced and hundreds of former trainees gathered to bid it an emotional farewell. Ansell writes of the hundreds of doctors who wentthrough the rigorous training process with him, sharing hisvision of saving the world and of resurrecting a hospital onthe verge of closing.County is about people, fromAnsells mentors, including the legendary Quentin Young,to the multitude of patients whom he and Countys medicalstaff labored to diagnose and heal. It is a story aboutpolitics, from contentious union strikes to battles againstpatient dumping, and public health, depicting the AIDScrisis and the opening of Countys HIV/AIDS clinic, thefirst in the city. Finally, it is about a young mans medical education inurban America, a comingofage story set against a backdropof race, segregation and poverty.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Phoenix on June 18, 2022

Why I liked this book is that real people and people are behind it—county hospitals for the uninsured in the USA from 1960 to 1990. It exhibited the actual life of ordinary and poor people. I have listened to this book on Audible; beautifully narrated.......more

Goodreads review by Wealhtheow on May 17, 2012

Dr. David Ansell came to Chicago's Cook County Hospital right out of medical school. County had once been an institution that boasted some of the finest doctors and most competitive internships in the country. But Chicago's black population quadrupled between 1930 and 1960, and thanks to racial segr......more

Goodreads review by Esther on September 16, 2018

I liked this book well enough! Very easy read abt one doctors experience working in the cook county public hospital and the existing health disparities for Chicago’s Black population. Feel like it could have gone more in depth, and I didn’t rly get the organization of the book......more

Goodreads review by Tim on July 08, 2013

The book deals with an excellent topic and has some interesting stories along the way, but overall I was put off by poor organization, less depth than I wanted in talking about the issues at hand, and a style that did not work for me - alternately rambling and preachy. The worst part was that this bo......more

Goodreads review by Deana on March 09, 2012

This subject has a lot of potential, but I wish it was written by a sociologist instead of a doctor. It was written like a 5th grade essay, took about an hour and a half to read, and was sprinkled with indications that the author thinks he's a serious rebel for having worn Birkenstocks at some point......more

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