Leveling Hierarchy, Eliminating Exclusion, and Creating Democracy in Health Care: What Worked, What Didn’t

Conventional medical research fetishes conclusions derived from aggregate datasets. What results are top-down, national narratives of health policy that marginalize the thick experience of specific places. This talk takes an alternative approach and argues that one cannot understand the origins of health problems -- and the success of solutions to address them -- without analyzing the local context that surrounds them. We'll examine battles over the unequal distribution of medical care in major cities via deep dives -- not ephemeral stops -- in four localities: New York City, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Central Appalachia, paying special attention to organic ethical arguments from the grassroots to democratize and level administrative decision-making and eliminate racial exclusion in the rarefied medical world.