A Spirit of Charity

            “[Mike King’s] decades of experience as an Atlanta-based journalist covering health care in the South have versed him well in the doublespeak of health care financing for America’s poor. … his outrage on behalf of our continuously threatened public hospitals should be immensely gratifying to all of their fans.”

- The New York Times

          “In the spirit of investigative journalism, this assessment of public hospitals paints a grim picture of health care for the poor in America. ... a searing and sobering indictment of the public health care system that highlights the inequality of treatment.”

- Kirkus Reviews

            “This fascinating work of medical history is refreshing and notable for its treatment of race as a critical part of the healthcare debate.”

            “Presented as the history of five large public hospitals in the United States, this book provides an interesting insight into the wider American healthcare system and the politics, events and ideologies that have shaped it from the late 19th century to the present day.”

            “Through stories of achievements, challenges and calamities at five large public hospitals in the U.S., Mike King shows that medical excellence resides where few people expect to find it – and how those centers are threatened by misplaced public priorities and political mythologies.”

            “Why is the United States the exception among our peer-nations when it comes to universal coverage? What role do public hospitals play both in protecting the vulnerable and allowing us to ignore the sources of their vulnerability? Can or should we hope for a day when the public hospital is no more? A Spirit of Charity has many of the answers to these vital questions.”