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What If Our Health Care System Kept Us Healthy?

Rebecca Onie is the cofounder of Health Leads, the Boston nonprofit that helps doctors "prescribe" basic necessities (housing, food, heat in winter) to low-income patients, in addition to just medications.

In her recent TEDMed talk, she asks some radical question: What if our health care system actually kept us healthy? What if doctors could truly prescribe solutions, not just drugs? What if ER waiting rooms around the country weren't just places to watch the clock and read old copies of Good Housekeeping, but rather, were transformed into service-oriented, patient-centered hubs where, in a brutal New England winter, a family could go and a volunteer could help that family get the heat turned back on? Listen to Rebecca's talk and get inspired:

Headshot of Rachel Zimmerman

Rachel Zimmerman Reporter
Rachel Zimmerman previously reported on health and the intersection of health and business for WBUR. She is working on a memoir about rebuilding her family after her husband’s suicide. 

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