Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Help hospitalized patients vote by requesting emergency ballots

Priya Joshi
Policy
November 4, 2018
Share
Tweet
Share

Two years ago, when I was still in residency I happened to be on overnight call the day prior to election day.

An associate program director of my residency program asked me if I wouldn’t mind being a doctor of record who evaluates whether I agree a patient is too sick to go to the polls. They forwarded to me names of patients who expressed interest in voting and were already registered to vote. I evaluated their hospitalization, and if I agreed they would not be discharged from the hospital and make it to the polls, I signed an emergency ballot request form with a notary present, which formalized a request for an emergency ballot. At that time, a medical student named Dorothy Charles, who organized the voting effort, ran the ballots over to City Hall and famously had to confront Vito Canuso, a Republican lawmaker, who was trying to block hospitalized registered voters from having their votes count. Now, Penn law students, have taken over the effort at Presbyterian Hospital with Dr. Judd Flesch, and are helping more hospitalized voters get their votes count.

As I reflect on this the week before the midterm elections – I realize I don’t work at a hospital that has procedures in place for hospitalized patients to be able to vote on election day. Admittedly, even having been a part of the effort to help patients previously, I was intimidated by my lack of knowledge of what exactly it was that Dorothy Charles did to organize the vote for hospitalized voters. For a couple days, I latched on to the excuse that a few dozen votes was not worth the effort to arrange emergency ballots.

But the progressively worsening stories about the yet another atrocity that cycle by the hour are simultaneously overwhelming and impossible to ignore. The upcoming midterm elections represent one of the most important for our nation and possibly our world’s future. In the last few years alone, we have had the politicians that represent the majority in the House and Senate ignore the impending doom of global warming, gun-related mortality that exceeds war-related mortality, and the utility of health care for those with pre-existing conditions. These politicians don’t have the backing of major physician groups. Why? Because physicians – not politicians are the ones who have to explain to patients, “your insurance did not cover this, so we will do [subpar, clinically inferior care]” instead, because that is what that patient can afford.

On a personal level, as a doctor who serves many African American veterans who lived through the civil rights movements, I feel frustrated when I walk into a room and see a veteran watching news about lawmakers blocking primarily African American votes. If certain lawmakers are going to – even with innocent intention – enact policies that happen to precisely target a group by race, the least I can do to combat this is to ensure a hospitalization does not become another barrier in that person’s way.

All voters, regardless of race, hospitalization status, or political affiliation, deserve the chance to vote.

With this in mind, I took the quick step to look up how to do what Dorothy Charles helped us do at Presbyterian Hospital two years ago, and found the paperwork to arrange emergency ballots. It took five minutes to find the paperwork (Pennsylvania is remarkably organized), ten minutes on a smartphone to get a mobile notary, and five minutes to print the paperwork. A patient-designated volunteer will bring ballots to City Hall.

On Tuesday, I’ll be another doctor alongside many in Philadelphia who helps hospitalized patients get their votes counted by arranging emergency ballots.

During the midterm elections next week, I want to make sure my patients vote — because they deserve the right to choose what their future looks like. I hope to encourage other physicians who read this to look up how to arrange emergency ballots for their patients as well. And at the very least, if a state creates barriers for hospitalized patients to vote, hopefully physicians can encourage colleagues to vote.

This may only help a handful of patients, but every vote counts and as I found out, it’s not as intimidating to arrange emergency ballots as it may seem.

Priya Joshi is a hospitalist. 

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

3 ways physician-pharma partnerships are improving quality of care

November 4, 2018 Kevin 3
…
Next

Patient satisfaction: Who is rating the ratings?

November 5, 2018 Kevin 1
…

ADVERTISEMENT

Tagged as: Hospital-Based Medicine, Hospitalist, Public Health & Policy, Washington Watch

Post navigation

< Previous Post
3 ways physician-pharma partnerships are improving quality of care
Next Post >
Patient satisfaction: Who is rating the ratings?

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

  • Violence in the emergency department puts patients and physicians at risk

    Vidor E. Friedman, MD
  • Are patients using social media to attack physicians?

    David R. Stukus, MD
  • You are abandoning your patients if you are not active on social media

    Pat Rich
  • Solving the low-acuity emergency department problem

    Dillon Mercado
  • A love letter to patients

    Marcie Costello
  • Patients are not passengers

    Christopher Noll, RN, MSN

More in Policy

  • How locum tenens work helps physicians and APPs reclaim control

    Brian Sutter
  • Why Medicaid cuts should alarm every doctor

    Ilan Shapiro, MD
  • Why physician voices matter in the fight against anti-LGBTQ+ laws

    BJ Ferguson
  • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

    Carlin Lockwood
  • What Adam Smith would say about America’s for-profit health care

    M. Bennet Broner, PhD
  • The lab behind the lens: Equity begins with diagnosis

    Michael Misialek, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • 2 hours to decide my future: How the SOAP residency match traps future doctors

      Nicolette V. S. Sewall, MD, MPH | Education
    • Why removing fluoride from water is a public health disaster

      Steven J. Katz, DDS | Conditions
    • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • In a fractured world, Brian Wilson’s message still heals

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Physician
    • When doctors forget how to examine: the danger of lost clinical skills

      Mike Stillman, MD | Physician
    • How doctors took back control from hospital executives

      Gene Uzawa Dorio, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Why shared decision-making in medicine often fails

      M. Bennet Broner, PhD | Conditions
    • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

      Jeff Cooper | Conditions
    • Why we fear being forgotten more than death itself

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • When doctors forget how to examine: the danger of lost clinical skills

      Mike Stillman, MD | Physician
    • When your dream job becomes a nightmare [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Finding healing in narrative medicine: When words replace silence

      Michele Luckenbaugh | Conditions
    • Why coaching is not a substitute for psychotherapy

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • When the white coats become gatekeepers: How a quiet cartel strangles America’s health

      Anonymous | Physician
    • Why doctors stay silent about preventable harm

      Jenny Shields, PhD | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 2 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • 2 hours to decide my future: How the SOAP residency match traps future doctors

      Nicolette V. S. Sewall, MD, MPH | Education
    • Why removing fluoride from water is a public health disaster

      Steven J. Katz, DDS | Conditions
    • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • In a fractured world, Brian Wilson’s message still heals

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Physician
    • When doctors forget how to examine: the danger of lost clinical skills

      Mike Stillman, MD | Physician
    • How doctors took back control from hospital executives

      Gene Uzawa Dorio, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Why shared decision-making in medicine often fails

      M. Bennet Broner, PhD | Conditions
    • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

      Jeff Cooper | Conditions
    • Why we fear being forgotten more than death itself

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • When doctors forget how to examine: the danger of lost clinical skills

      Mike Stillman, MD | Physician
    • When your dream job becomes a nightmare [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Finding healing in narrative medicine: When words replace silence

      Michele Luckenbaugh | Conditions
    • Why coaching is not a substitute for psychotherapy

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • When the white coats become gatekeepers: How a quiet cartel strangles America’s health

      Anonymous | Physician
    • Why doctors stay silent about preventable harm

      Jenny Shields, PhD | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Help hospitalized patients vote by requesting emergency ballots
2 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...