Empowering Providers and Patients to Get Political - Dr. Alister Martin, Founder of VotER

What this episode covers

“In our system, if you are not at the table, you are on the menu, politically. So, in order to make our healthcare system work better for vulnerable people, we have to organize them politically.” That’s the clear-eyed view of Dr. Alister Martin an emergency physician and faculty member in the Harvard Medical School Center for Social Justice and Health Equity. He’s also the founder of VotER, a nonpartisan effort to use healthcare settings as a place where people can register to vote. While COVID created obstacles to using the self-serve registration system he’d put in place, it also generated deep frustration among providers about the lack of a coherent public strategy to fight the pandemic, which he harnessed to redirect the program using a safer approach. Beyond increasing voter turnout, he’s also aiming to help providers learn some of the fundamental skills of community organizing. His passion for health policies that empower patients also informs another project he created called Get Waivered, which aims to expand access to treatment for those struggling with opioid use disorder. This inspiring conversation with host Jannah Amiel is packed with passion, pragmatism, and hope for creating a better healthcare system for vulnerable communities.

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