Episode 7 - Public Health, Private Equity, And The Pandemic

As the coronavirus surges across the U.S. during this holiday season, the biblical “no room in the inn” has become “no room in the hospital.” This is especially true in rural regions in the Midwest, South and Southwest, where hospital closings imperil whole communities. Today’s podcast explores one of the factors which has exacerbated this crisis: the speculation in health care networks by private equity firms. In his fall 2020 column for New Labor Forum and in this episode of Reinventing Solidarity, Max Fraser examines the profiteering by these firms that has contributed to the proliferation of “health care deserts.” He is joined in conversation by Samir Sonti, Books and Arts Editor for New Labor Forum and faculty member at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies.