Hospitals and physicians across the country are organizing efforts to drive voter registration, according to ABC News.
Alister Martin, MD, an emergency room physician at Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital, founded VotER, a nonpartisan nonprofit that provides medical professionals with voter registration resources. Providers at hospitals and community-based health centers can use VotER's online platform to register nonemergency patients as voters. The platform also guides users through the process of requesting an absentee ballot.
"The healthcare system does not work for vulnerable people — full stop," Dr. Martin told ABC. "We have to help them get involved in the political process if we hope to change any of this."
Kelly Wong, MD, an emergency medicine resident at Providence, R.I.-based Brown University, founded Patient Voting nearly three years ago. The nonpartisan organization helps hospitalized patients vote by using an emergency absentee ballots available in most states.
In addition, healthcare organizations have committed to efforts to drive civic engagement as part of a nationwide campaign called Civic Health Month, launched Aug. 1. Participating organizations include Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger Health System and St. Louis-based SSM Health.
Read the full article here.