Cherry Blossoms, COVID-19, and the Opportunity for a Healthy Life

Marshall H. Chin

doi:10.1370/afm.2630

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RE: Cherry Blossoms, COVID-19, and the Opportunity for a Healthy Life
Laura M Gottlieb

Published on: 10 February 2021
RE: Cherry Blossoms will come again
Larry A. Green

Published on: 19 January 2021

Published on: (10 February 2021)
Page navigation anchor for RE: Cherry Blossoms, COVID-19, and the Opportunity for a Healthy Life
RE: Cherry Blossoms, COVID-19, and the Opportunity for a Healthy Life
Laura M Gottlieb, Professor, Family and Community Medicine, UCSF
I very much appreciated Dr. Chin's thoughtful--and beautiful--essay about ways that the US health care sector might respond to the latest health inequity tragedy. Dr. Chin's three recommendations are powerful. I was struck by the idea that though third in the article, the final recommendation--"Have the Hard Conversations About Whether We Truly Value the Opportunity for Everyone to Have a Healthy Life"--really is primary. I hope the answer will embolden us to turn to the other important recommendations on his list.

Competing Interests: None declared.
Published on: (19 January 2021)
Page navigation anchor for RE: Cherry Blossoms will come again
RE: Cherry Blossoms will come again
Larry A. Green, Family Physician, University of Colorado School of Mediine
Published 6 months after accepted, this eloquent article remains even more pertinent now than then. Who can refute Dr. Chin's assertions and recommendations? Lying beneath his well-stated case is a system designed well to generate wealth, not health. For his recommendations to have a chance, the purpose of US healthcare MUST be redirected from the lucrative to the important goals of health care. This is not just an implementation problem. It is a moral problem that permeates our struggling society. Spring is coming and the cherry blossoms will make a reappearance. Wouldn't it be nice if they were joined by a multi-sector shout out for a once in 50 year major revision of the US health care system? Not to restore the wealth generating machine, but to redesign for the health of all of us!

Competing Interests: None declared.