The Death Gap by
David A. Ansell, MD
We hear plenty about the widening income gap between the rich and the poor in America…
…and about the expanding distance separating the haves and the have-nots. But when detailing the many things that the poor have not, we often overlook the most critical—their health. The poor die sooner. Blacks die sooner. And poor urban blacks die sooner than almost all other Americans. In nearly four decades as a doctor at hospitals serving some of the poorest communities in Chicago, David Ansell has witnessed firsthand the lives behind these devastating statistics. In The Death Gap, he gives a grim survey of these realities, drawn from observations and stories of his patients.
The author of County: Life, Death, and Politics at Chicago’s Public Hospital
The tale of one of America’s oldest and most unusual urban public hospitals and the patients it serves. From its inception as a “Poor House” dispensing free medical care to indigents, Chicago’s Cook County Hospital has been both a renowned teaching hospital and the healthcare provider of last resort for the uninsured. County: Life, Death, and Politics at Chicago’s Public Hospital (Chicago Review Press)
About the Author
David Ansell, MD, MPH is the Senior Vice President for Community Health Equity at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. An internal medicine physician, he trained and served at Cook County Hospital, then at Mount Sinai Hospital, located in one of the highest hardship communities in Chicago.
