"To say that we’re on the brink of disaster offers hope that the people in charge can take steps to keep us from plunging toward an abyss. It suggests that the situation is at least temporarily sustainable, that maybe you can keep hunkering down and doing what you’ve been doing👇🏾
...and everything will be fine. But it is not sustainable, and it is not fine. The health care system is not approaching some kind of cliff, while still functioning—what is happening right now is killing people like Daniel Wilkinson. People who do not have to die are dying."
"My time as a doctor has been defined by working in a system that has already collapsed. The American health system I work in has featured limited personal protective equipment, oxygen shortages, and the construction of field hospitals in convention centers and parking garages...
Last winter, many hospitals across the country instituted crisis standards of care, forced to ration health services based on criteria that few people envisioned would be used outside of a mass casualty event, like a terrorist attack...
Today, hospitals are full in much of the country... These are not features of a health system that is approaching failure. These are features of a health care system that has broken down spectacularly, forcing doctors and patients to climb through the rubble looking for help."
"Brink and hedge words like it—cusp, verge, threshold—offer us a state of suspended animation between normalcy and a true crisis. Focusing on language so intently may seem pedantic. But there is power in simply stating the truth...
It validates the experiences of health care workers on the ground, and those of people who are unable to get adequate health care. Acknowledging that our health system did collapse under the weight of the COVID-19 ultimately sets the stage for comprehensive health reform...
It pushes back against any revisionist history that may emerge in the coming years; it’s easy to imagine accounts that conveniently emphasize health care heroes while waving away how flawed our health care system is...
Recognizing our failure brazenly could push us to build a system that is more resilient."

👆🏾This is a major reason that our #FiveRs policy platform includes Recognition & Resilience. Learn more & support this work: actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-on-…

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More from @MarkedByCovid

8 Sep
In May 2020, just before AZ's infection rate soared, Gov @dougducey encouraged residents not to stay home. "I want to encourage people to get out and about," Ducey told listeners of a popular radio show. "If you don't have an underlying health condition, it's safe out there."
The interview was then shared on @Facebook and @Twitter. Many people listened to that dangerous advice — and many, including @kdurquiza's father, Mark Urquiza, paid with their lives after contracting the disease.
Read 6 tweets
16 Dec 20
It's been eight months since Congress passed the CARES Act. Since then, millions have gotten sick, hundreds of thousands have died, and countless families have struggled through this crisis alone.

We need a second relief bill and we need it NOW. actionnetwork.org/forms/2012_ema…

(1/4)
(2/4)There's no good reason for this hold-up – Mitch McConnell has been gatekeeping a second relief for every single family in this country for months and the effects have been devastating.
(3/4) Food lines are growing longer, the CDC's eviction moratorium is set to expire soon, and there are 9.8 million fewer jobs in the economy. And now we only have 9 DAYS to secure a second relief bill.
Read 4 tweets
3 Oct 20
THREAD RT: My dad #MarkUrquiza was an actual warrior, @IvankaTrump. Your father killed my father. I know you know who I am and what I think. I saw you nod at me when you and your caravan of vectors walked past me at Tuesday night's debate. (1/9)
I practiced restraint to show respect to you, your Dad, the rules @debates, and @ClevelandClinic set before us, @JoeBiden, and democracy. I had a copy of my Dad's obituary ready to hand to you. (2/9)
But I don't have to show the same kind of restraint here, especially in light of the developments that your family and the ghoulish republican party in complete arrogant disregard of the rules the rest of the attendees agreed to put our lives in danger. (3/9)
Read 9 tweets
3 Oct 20
RT THREAD: At the #DNC I spoke of two Americas. We see it on full display this evening. #POTUS was taken to a hospital out of "caution" to monitor is reported symptoms of low-grade fever, chills, cough, and low-energy. On June 11th my Dad woke up with the same symptoms (1/4)
My dad was told to come back if he couldn't breathe. Five days later on June 16th, my mother rushed him to the hospital as he gasped for air. His ICU doctor said he wished he would have come in sooner to the hospital. (2/4)
Would #MarkUrquiza be here today if he in his America he had access to that type of care? But it's not just Mark what about the families of the Rio Grande who called for an ambulance and were told the backlog was 3 hours to receive emergency transport? (3/4)
Read 4 tweets
23 Aug 20
We caught this amazing piece in the #Austin-American @statesman about #HonestObits and were reminded that we have a story to share with you about an #HonestObit that was rejected by the #SanAntonio @ExpressNews...

statesman.com/opinion/202008… Image
.@ExpressNews claimed that they could not run the #HonestObit bc it included opinions, criticized elected officials, and editorialized; they stated it would detract from the journalistic integrity of the paper and offered to run it as a paid advertisement instead.
In hopes of compromise, we removed some of the stronger language as well as an invitation to a vigil, which the paper claimed was not the same as a funeral -- though as you'll see below, the @statesman clearly disagrees with this distinction.
Read 11 tweets
18 Aug 20
@kdurquiza is not alone. We're a growing movement and have already had the enormous honor and privilege to sponsor multiple #HonestObit -- obituaries that call out politicians for the needless death of loved ones.
@itsmefi wrote this #HonestObit for her mom, "Isabelle was a giant, powerful in her kindness. Like thousands of others...she should still be alive today. Her undeserving death is due to the carelessness of politicians who undervalue healthcare workers..." markedbycovid.com/2020/07/12/hon…
The Rangel family from the Rio Grande Valley wrote for their father, "The family blames his death on the deliberate neglect of the #Hispanic community by @realDonaldTrump and @GregAbbott_TX" #Texas #COVID19

markedbycovid.wpcomstaging.com/2020/08/09/hon…
Read 5 tweets

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