Common Ground, Common Good

By David Jarrard 3-minute read

Healthcare is a great leveler.

As we approach another crescendo in this endless political season that is deeply defined by those who would divide us, let’s take a moment to acknowledge the uniters we see at work every day in the halls of healthcare.

There’s little political conflict in the ER or in the nursery, after all. These places are small patches of sacred space where humans who need care come, and others are there to provide it.

At its best, healthcare creates a common ground for common good.

Try to hold that ideal close this week when unity may seem hard to find.

You’ve heard plenty about cultural and policy issues that sharply divide voters.

You’ve heard too little of this: There are deep and fundamental core values that Americans of all stripes share. Strong ones.

Healthcare is one of those.

A common core

“Despite the country’s deep political polarization, most Americans share many core beliefs about what it means to be an American,” says the Associated Press, reporting on surveys from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs.

In their research, 90% of adults say the right to vote, to speak, equal protection under the law and a right to privacy are extremely or very important to them and to the United States’ identity as a nation; 84% feel the same way about the freedom of religion. There’s little variation in answers by political affiliation.

“If you get a bunch of normal people at random and put them in a room together and chat about issues, there’s a lot more convergence than you might imagine,” agrees Michel Albertus, a poly sci professor at the University of Chicago.

Let’s give a cheer to the very many (but rarely highlighted) normal people. We need them all.

While these calming results may not sneak into our self-affirming echo chambers, the findings are not news.

A headline from the American Communities Project last year? “Surprise: American voters actually largely agree on many issues, including topics like abortion, immigration and wealth inequality.”

And going back even further to 2018, More in Common wrote, “We [Americans] hold dissimilar views on many issues. But most Americans are tired of this “us-versus-them” mindset and are eager to find common ground.”

The delivery of healthcare rests on this common ground, too.

In our national and statewide surveys, U.S. adults consistently tell us they hold physicians, nurses and hospitals in high regard, with little variation by political affiliation.

In fact, Americans of every political persuasion tell us:

• Hospitals are meeting the needs of people like them (66% agree).
• The unheralded community benefits providers offer – from financial assistance to clinician education to funding research, etc. – are important and greatly valued (see chart).
• Providers of care are – by far – the most trusted voices in healthcare policy making, regardless of party and by independent voters, too.

What other institution in your community can claim such unanimity behind what they do day in and day out?

For each of the following services, please indicate whether you agree that it is an example of a valuable community benefit a hospital could provide.

A vulnerable space

Healthcare rests on precious political real estate and it’s not to be wasted. Left untended, this ground will erode. Because while that ER and nursery are free of political judgement when it comes to the actual provision of care, the industry itself isn’t.

There are significant policy questions before us. And healthcare sits right in the middle of major social issues that rank among the hottest of hot button issues: Women’s reproductive rights and gender-affirming care.

What’s more, complex healthcare organizations are shaped by the dynamic relationship between nurses, physicians, payers, patients, regulators, boards and management. Healthcare systems can have their own political cauldrons that are always simmering… somewhere. Leaders are always in a kind of political campaign.

You know this. It will be no surprise to you that we’ve tracked a post-pandemic attrition of trust in providers. The trusted place healthcare holds within the public consciousness is not guaranteed to stay.

But today, in this very moment, how Americans think about hospitals and providers of care, how they think about the benefit you provide to their community and to their family, is broadly supportive and rests outside party lines.

It’s a good place to sit.

It’s a better place to act.

In this age of division, this rarefied space is an opportunity for leaders wanting to actively engage their communities in persuasive conversations about the future of healthcare delivery and to build support from the community to make it happen.

That should include every healthcare provider today.

Says the More in Common / Hidden Tribes survey, “More than three in four Americans believe that our differences aren’t so great that we can’t work together.”

We can, in fact, work together. There’s a hunger for it. And our industry has much work to do in every community we serve. Reputation building. Storytelling. Grassroots seeding. Preparation. Buying umbrellas for the rain that is coming.

Healthcare delivery has not been a major issue in this presidential election, but the many political challenges it faces have not faded away: state and federal funding, tax exemptions, workforce management, consolidation, regulation, the cost of care, etc. You know the list and need every ally you can gather.

Healthcare is a great leveler. It’s true in the patient room and it’s true in your community, too.

As the aggravated disunity of this political season rises and falls, healthcare can be a unique convener that embraces people across the political divides, real or imagined. Invite good-minded people to the common ground of healthcare to work together for the common good that healthcare must be.

Contributors: Isaac Squyres, Tim Stewart, Emme Nelson Baxter, David Shifrin

Image Credit: Shannon Threadgill