The Hospital, Brian Alexander
The Hospital, Brian Alexander
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The Hospital
Life, Death, and Dollars in a Small American Town

Author: Brian Alexander

Narrator: Nick Landrum

Unabridged: 14 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/09/2021


Synopsis

An intimate, heart wrenching portrait of one small hospital that reveals the magnitude of America’s health care crises.

“With his signature gut-punching prose, Alexander breaks our hearts as he opens our eyes to America’s deep-rooted sickness and despair by immersing us in the lives of a small town hospital and the people it serves. “ —Beth Macy, bestselling author of Dopesick

By following the struggle for survival of one small-town hospital, and the patients who walk, or are carried, through its doors, The Hospital takes listeners into the world of the American medical industry in a way no audiobook has done before. Americans are dying sooner, and living in poorer health. Alexander argues that no plan will solve America’s health crisis until the deeper causes of that crisis are addressed.

Bryan, Ohio's hospital, is losing money, making it vulnerable to big health systems seeking domination and Phil Ennen, CEO, has been fighting to preserve its independence. Meanwhile, Bryan, a town of 8,500 people in Ohio’s northwest corner, is still trying to recover from the Great Recession. As local leaders struggle to address the town’s problems, and the hospital fights for its life amid a rapidly consolidating medical and hospital industry, a 39-year-old diabetic literally fights for his limbs, and a 55-year-old contractor lies dying in the emergency room. With these and other stories, Alexander strips away the wonkiness of policy to reveal Americans’ struggle for health against a powerful system that’s stacked against them, but yet so fragile it blows apart when the pandemic hits. Culminating with COVID-19, this audiobook offers a blueprint for how we created the crisis we're in.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

"A brilliantly imaginative and creative way of telling the story of today's America and the roots of what ails it, through the travails of a small-town hospital. In The Hospital, Brian Alexander does again so well what he did in Glass House—telling the big story from the small place."
—Sam Quinones, author of Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic

About Brian Alexander

Brian Alexander has written about American culture for decades. A former contributing editor to Wired magazine, he has been recognized by Medill School of Journalism's John Bartlow Martin awards for public interest journalism, and by other organizations. He grew up in Lancaster, with a family history in the glass business. He lives in California. Brian is the author of Glass House.


Reviews

This is one of the most impacting, painful books on the subject of the broken, ineffective money making machine that is the American healthcare system, and if there is a good case to be made for universal healthcare and there is in my opinion, this author does an excellent job of presenting it. I am......more


Quotes

“With his signature gut-punching prose, Alexander breaks our hearts as he opens our eyes to America’s deep-rooted sickness and despair by immersing us in the lives of a small town hospital and the people it serves. “ —Beth Macy, bestselling author of Dopesick

“In this clear-eyed biography of a community hospital, Brian Alexander offers a powerful indictment of the American health care system. The Hospital will break your heart.” —Andrea Pitzer, author of One Long Night