The Waiting Room

Project Director: Peter Nicks

More than one third of all Americans have no health insurance. And as more Americans lose their jobs, public hospitals are experiencing an increase in people seeking care. The Waiting Room is a documentary about a young band of public health executives at Highland Hospital in Oakland, California, persevering despite daunting systemic and financial obstacles. At the Institute, Emmy Award winner Peter Nicks and his team developed a hybrid, multiplatform public media experience that will bring the film directly into the conversations at center of the public health crisis. At the center of the experience are interactive micro-storytelling kiosks in hospital waiting rooms that will include the live-blogged reports from people living without health insurance, and a unique online portal that will distribute these stories and become an archive for the testimonials that will highlight the urgency of the national dialogue around health care.