The Waiting Room

About The Waiting Room

The Waiting Room, released in 2012, is a powerful documentary that provides a riveting look behind the scenes of an American public hospital struggling to care for a community of primarily uninsured patients. The film paints a clear picture of a healthcare system bursting at the seams, pushed to its breaking point by a surge of individuals who lack insurance, but nevertheless require medical attention.

Making/Production

The Waiting Room was directed by Peter Nicks, an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker who used his in-depth knowledge of healthcare complexities to delineate the stories of patients, caregivers, and a hospital stretched to its limits. Filmed in Highland Hospital in Oakland, California, it captures the profound human drama as well as the crucial social policy decisions play out in real time.

Actors

• Patients - Played by Themselves: The patients of the hospital, most of whom were uninsured and struggling, played themselves in the film, lending a real-life authenticity to the production.
• Medical Staff - Played by Themselves: Similar to the patients, the medical staff also played themselves, showcasing their tireless work under stressful conditions.

Trivia/Interesting Facts

• The Waiting Room was shot in Highland Hospital in Oakland, California, which made headlines for its extreme overcrowding problems.
• Despite being a documentary, the film adopts a narrative style, focusing on several main "characters" to draw the audience into the story.
• The Waiting Room was filmed over a course of five months, capturing the hospital's daily operations in granular detail.

Awards

The Waiting Room has received numerous awards and recognitions. It was nominated for the Best Documentary Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards and won the Stella Artois Truer Than Fiction Award.

Quotes

• "This is the safety net of the safety net. If this was gone, I don't know what people would do." - Hospital Staff
• "There's nothing else. This is it. There's no place else to go." - Patient

Music, Soundtrack

• The music and soundtrack for The Waiting Room were composed by William Ryan Fritch, adding an emotional depth to the film's narrative.