
‘Not an Easy Villain’: Documentary Tackles Healthcare’s Big Hospital Problem
The human cost of tax-exempt hospitals is a hard pill to swallow, says “InHospitable” director
“InHospitable,” a new documentary about nonprofit hospitals, follows the lives of three patients and their families as they get caught between two feuding healthcare giants in Pittsburgh — the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and Highmark Health — when UPMC announced it would stop accepting Highmark Health’s insurance in a business move.
Very sick patients were at risk of losing their doctors completely once an agreement between the two systems expired. With the help of journalists, activist organizers, and allies in government, they petitioned local lawmakers and even disrupted a UPMC board meeting.