You're invited: FILM FEST MAY 7TH

Busy Week of Filming!

 Producer Meggan interviews EMT Matt B 

about working on an ambulance and in the ER

Our crew is welcomed at LAC+USC

Emergency Department Chair, Doctor Newton, talks about 

LAC+USC - one of the busiest Emergency Rooms in the United States.  

Dr. Newton is considered an expert in his field. 

P.R. Representative Frank gives us a behind the scenes tour 

and history of LAC+USC

A picture of the new LAC+USC medical center (right) and the old building (left).  

The new building opened in 2008 (photo from uscdem.org) 

Cinematographer Dorothy gets footage of the architecture.

Pictures of the old pharmacy and sections of the waiting room of the original building. LAC+USC moved to a new (albeit smaller) building in 2008.

LAC+USC Ambulance Bay

Filming at Huntington Hospital

Huntington Hospital - Exterior Shot

Huntington is currently expanding their E.R. to meet

the growing needs of their community

Emergency Department manager, Karen Knudsen talks about 

overcrowding at Huntington

The crew sets up a shot with ED manager, Karen Knudsen

  P.R. Manger, Andrea Stradling discusses how the closures of nearby hospitals 

 led to an increase in patients at Huntington's ER

Donors like Nan and Howard Schow help make the new 

Emergency and Trauma Center at Huntington possible. 

Saturday Night at LAC+USC

Our crew sets up the camera for a night of shooting at LAC-USC

Inside the LAC+USC waiting room on what staff refers to as an "unusually slow night."

 LAFD handles all emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles, and currently 82% of the department's work is medical, rather than fire-related. (Firestorm Documentary, 2010)

Dorothy and Vanessa work to secure the camera to the tri-pod.

Morning at LAC+USC

Cinematographer Dorothy sets up a roof top shot.

LAC-USC is the largest single provider of health care in Los Angeles County, and provides more than 28 percent of the county's trauma care. 

An ambulance enters LAC+USC, often cited as the nation's busiest emergency room and among those with the highest number of uninsured patients. 

Director Vanessa talks to an officer about our project.

 Although he believes that we're not terrorists, we're still told to leave the premises. 

Dear friends,


If anyone has contacts (e.g. doctors, nurses, admin) at any of the major LA hospitals (particularly those with busy emergency rooms) or knows someone who had an especially lengthy wait time in the ER - please leave your name and e-mail in a comment or e-mail Meggan at Meggan.Thompson@usc.edu.


Thanks!

Meet Our Experts!

Dr. Bruce Jansson PhD

 

We’re excited to interview this amazing policy professor and author of The Sixteen Trillion Dollar Mistake: How the U.S. Bungled its National Priorities from FDR to Clinton.  According to his bio, Dr. Jansson is currently working on a sequel, which will call for a debate on forthcoming national priorities as spending on the elderly and medical care threatens to truncate spending for other domestic priorities. He is also beginning a multi-year study regarding the politics of big-city health systems using Los Angeles as the lead example.

You can see his full bio and CV here

Karen Knudsen, RN

Karen Knudsen is the ED manager at Huntington Hospital. 

Huntington Hospital is currently expanding their ER.  Find out more here: HUNTINGTON

Dr. Edward Newton MD

Dr. Newton is Chair and Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine at LAC+USC.

As department chair, Newton has led 45 full-time USC faculty, 60 voluntary or part-time faculty, and 68 residents, and provided administrative direction to a wide range of Los Angeles County employees working in the Emergency Department at the LAC+USC Medical Center. His term as chair saw the integration of the emergency medicine private practice into the University of Southern California and the transition from the old county facility to the new state-of-the-art Level 1 trauma center. (HSC Weekly) 

Dr. Michael Cousineau

Dr. Michael Cousineau is considered an expert on health care policy and reform for the underserved and uninsured. 

Dr. Cousineau is currently Associate Professor of Research in the Department of Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine at the USC Keck School of Medicine. He directs the USC Center for Community Health Studies and teaches in both the Masters in Public Health program and in the Professionalism and the Practice of Medicine. He has a masters and a doctorate from the UCLA School of Public Health.

What's in a name?

We have come up with an idea for our production company: altruiStiC pictures (logo pending)

However, we're still tossing around possible titles for our documentary film.

Here are a few options:

Overcrowded

Waiting for Help

Hurry Up & Wait: The Causes and Consequences of ER Overcrowding

Hurry Up & Wait: ER overload

Overloaded

Waiting Forever: The Consequences of Hospital Wait Times

Have any ideas? Please share!

Meet Our Crew

 VANESSA - DIRECTOR

Hometown:

La Crescenta, CA

Education:

Bachelors in psychology and child development from CSUN in 2007

Masters in Social Work with concentration on Health from USC in May 2011

Hobbies and Interests:

Sports, Mysteries, Soccer, My 2 chocolate labs, volunteering, photography, and watching movies....

Social Work Interests:

I am interested in Pediatric Oncology. Medical social work that involves helping pediatric patients with cancer.

Why I chose the Social Work in Media Elective:

I believe that media is the wave of the future and in order to really get a message out, media is the best avenue. I chose this media class to learn how I could use media to share a message or educate the public on something I am passionate about. I hope that I will be able to utilize media to help the greater good.

DOROTHY - CINEMATOGRAPHER

Hometown:

Queens, NY

Education:

Binghamton University- Major in Psychology, Minor in Asian and Asian American Studies

USC MSW- Work and Life Concentration

Hobbies and Interests:

I enjoy hiking outdoors (my dream is to visit all the national parks in the US), photography and crafts.

Social Work Interests:

My major interests are in program and organization development, older adults/gerontology and issues in the workplace- such as labor rights, health and safety.

Why I chose the Social Work in Media Elective:

I love watching documentaries, independent films and listening to any music that moves me.   From the films I saw and media coverage I watched, I realized the immense power of media to move people, bring awareness and start social movements.

MEGGAN - PRODUCER

Hometown:

Torrance, California

Education:

University of Colorado at Boulder - History and Sociology

University of Southern California - Social Work/Mental Health

Hobbies and Interests:

I love the outdoors, sports, painting, and traveling. 

Social Work Interests:

My interest is in mental health. I'm interested in working with adults that have SPMI, problems with addiction, Borderline Personality DO, and/or PTSD (particularly complex PTSD).

Why I chose the Social Work in Media Elective:

I saw this as an elective when initially applying to MSW programs and I have wanted - and waited for - this elective ever since.  I love watching documentaries and I think, through media and education, you can create change.

Welcome to our Documentary Blog

                                                

Hello! 

We're graduate students at the USC School of Social Work. We're currently enrolled in a Media in Social Work course. This course focuses on how media can be used to have an impact on social change. 

We are currently shooting a documentary film project that will focus on emergency room overcrowding at LAC-USC Hospital.  

Our goal is to explore causes, consequences, and ideas for solutions to this growing problem. 

It is our hope that we can educate the public and key stakeholders and create a catalyst for change.