Wright State was chosen as one of the 50 schools to screen the new Healthcare Documentary called “Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare” before it hits theaters. The 2012 Sundance Film Festival chose “Escape Fire.” It will be shown on Sept. 19, 7 p.m. at the Gandhi auditorium in White Hall. The premier will be in theaters and on iTunes on Oct. 5.
While researching for the movie, directors Matthew Heinemann and Susan Froemke came across a speech delivered by Dr. Don Berwick, before he took office as the head of Medicare and Medicaid. The speech was called Escape Fire: Lessons for the Future of Healthcare.
Dr. Berwick compares broken healthcare system and a forest fire. He states just as the healthcare system lies perilously on the brink of combustion, the forest fire, which seemed harmless at first was waiting to explode. According to the film’s press release, in the film he explains that healthcare is trouble and the answer is among us.
Heinemann and Froemke explained in the press release that they spent six months researching the topic. They wanted to find out how the current healthcare system came to be and how we could find a way out of the chaos.
“It’s promising that everyone we talked to sees many of the same flaws in the system and believes that there are attainable solutions,” said Heinemann and Froemke. “But of course it’s also frustrating that with so many important leaders on the same side of the fence, we’re still struggling to reform the system.”
They further informed, “Our goal with “Escape Fire” is to provoke a paradigm shift in how our country views health and healing. We hope audiences will come away with a clearer understanding of how and why our system is broken, the barriers to change and potential solutions.”
This film will be an opportunity for WSU medical students.
“The film screening opportunity was promoted through the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Open School for Health Professions,” said Sabrina Neely, Assistant professor at the Center for Global Health and Director of the Physician Leadership Program. “WSU BSOM has an IHI Open School Chapter and one of our MD/MBA students, Lakshman Swamy, is a regional chapter leader. When we saw the notice that we could apply to be a screening site, we took advantage of that opportunity.”
“From our perspective, many WSU Medical Students are interested in the topics addressed by the film,” said Swamy. “Our institute for HealthCare Improvement Open School Chapter has some incredibly motivated students. Zach (WSU Med Student) and I, along with several others had the chance to meet with Dr. Dan Berwick earlier this summer at an opportunity to get WSU students involved, and Escape fire seemed ideal.”
“I absolutely agree with Lakshman. I think a lot of medical students see themselves as the future leaders of healthcare in the United State and I agree that there are problems with our current system; that being said, variable solutions are not always obvious,” said medical student, Zachary Joseph Il’Giovine. “I think we felt that students and professionals alike could benefit from having interdisplinary discussions on different aspects of this topic and Escape Fire provides a solid foundation to begin with.”
For more information about this film please visit escapefiremovie.com.
