The Waiting Room  goes behind the doors of Highland Hospital’s over-crowded, under-resourced emergency room as medical staff struggle to care for a community of largely uninsured patients.  Hard choices are made as victims of gun violence take their turn alongside cancer patients and numerous others waiting hours and sometimes days for treatment.  The film weaves the intimate stories of several patients – as well as the dedicated hospital staff carrying for them – as they cope with the complexities and deficiencies of our current health care system.  The filmmaker, Pete Nicks, will field questions after the showing. The showing is co-sponsored by the Piedmont Appreciating Diversity Committee, the Piedmont League of  Women Voters and DiversityWorks.

The Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle both declared The Waiting Room one of the top 10 movies of 2012.

“Magnificent… it lifts the veil on a world often described in terms of squalor and despair, finding the inherent dignity and perseverance therein.”  The Washington Post

“Extraordinary access to the people in and around the waiting room of a public hospital in Oakland.”  The San Francisco Chronicle

Free Screenings
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Ellen Driscoll Theater,
325 Highland Ave, Piedmont 94611 (near Oakland Ave.)
6:30 pm Reception | 7:00 pm Screening | 8:20  Community discussion with director of the  film, Pete Nicks

Saturday, February 1, 2014 at 3 pm
New Parkway Theater, 
474 24^th Street,  Oakland, 94612 (near Telegraph Ave.)
www.thenewparkway.com