Doctors, Medical Students Push to Register Patients to Vote in US Elections

A Boston emergency room doctor is gathering thousands of voter registration kits for dissemmination at hospitals and doctors' offices in an effort for patients to vote in the United States elections.

Harvard and Yale medical school students will be launching a contest later this month to test which of the Ivy League rivals could register the most voters.

A Rhode Island medical student has initiated an attempt to procure emergency ballots for patients who are admitted to the hospital on election day.

This month, hospitals and healthcare institutions across the US are enacting efforts for US citizen's engagement in the election process in honor of Civic Health Month, a nationwide campaign that culminated on August 1, reported The Guardian.

According to a Stanford University graduate student, Benjamin Ruxin, who spearheads the campaign, the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of affirming that everyone could vote and help shape healthcare policy for difficult times ahead.

Alister Martin, the aforementioned emergency room doctor at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital, stated that he launched VotER to offer those in the medical field voter registration resources following years of witnessing patients grapple from the health effects of poverty, homelessness, and drug addiction among social dilemmas.

According to Martin in relation to patients voting the US elections, "We've been trained to solve these really complex health problems, but not everything we see can be treated with a prescription. The healthcare system does not work for vulnerable people - full stop. We have to help them get involved in the political process if we hope to change any of this."

Kelly Wong, a medical student at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, stated that earlier generations might have witnessed the voter registration among nonpartisan election work as beyond their scope of concern or overtly political, newer medical professionals regard public engagement as an essential part of treating the patient.

Wong launched Patient Voting to enable doctors and other hospital staff members to devote themselves to helping patients submit emergency ballots when the timing calls for it.

According to US citizens healthcare is the most vital issue in America. However, 51 million forego a tantamount power in curbing the country's health policy due to the fact that they are not registered to vote, reported WBUR.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has only underscored such paradox: the vitality of our health system is strikingly clear while voter registration is more difficult.

The Ash Center and the Center for Public Leadership recently recognized Civic Health Month last 5th of August. The event discussed how healthcare workers are underscoring civic engagement through bolstering voters and how a high amount of public engagement can lead to more equitable health outcomes, reported Ash Center.

According to Martin who underscored patients voting in the US elections, the act of voting has become more crucial these times. The coronavirus pandemic has made voting a public health dilemma.

The advent has caused Americans to be reliant on healthcare providers. Hospitals, doctors, and medical staff have garnered a higher approval evaluation than any other industry since the culmination of the outbreak.

Tags

Patients, Vote