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      The Waiting Room

      Released Sep 26, 2012 1h 21m Documentary List
      100% Tomatometer 34 Reviews 76% Audience Score 1,000+ Ratings Filmmaker Peter Nicks chronicles events at a public hospital's emergency room, where the overworked staff and many uninsured patients must cope with disease, injury, bureaucracy and hard choices. Read More Read Less Watch on Hulu Stream Now

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      The Waiting Room

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      Critics Reviews

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      Moira MacDonald Seattle Times A moving portrait of people doing their jobs under very difficult circumstances - and, in virtually every moment we see, doing them with efficiency, wisdom and compassion. Rated: 3.5/4 Mar 21, 2013 Full Review Elizabeth Horkley Philadelphia Inquirer Nicks nets moments that are at turns horrific and touching, redemptive of those seeking treatment and the workers who provide it where no one else will. Mar 14, 2013 Full Review Lisa Kennedy Denver Post The level of frankness and vulnerability of those featured suggests just how compassionate a filmmaker Nicks (who acted as his own cinematographer) must be. Rated: 2.5/4 Jan 18, 2013 Full Review Kelly Jane Torrance Washington Examiner The Waiting Room is an important look into what is fast becoming one of our most important institutions. But that's all it is -- a glimpse. Rated: 2.5/4 Dec 19, 2018 Full Review Amy Taubin Artforum In a year of exceptionally strong documentaries, The Waiting Room is one of the most urgent and effective. Jun 1, 2015 Full Review Sarah Boslaugh PopMatters If you want to understand how the American system of health care delivery works for people without employer-sponsored health insurance, I can think of no better introduction than watching Peter Nicks' documentary The Waiting Room. Rated: 8/10 Mar 21, 2013 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      dave d A frightening look at an emergency room, health care, and insurance. It is ugly and harrowing and just about everyone's worst nightmare, but this doc brings the tension. Final Score: 8/10 Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member An eye opening look into the ER waiting room of a hospital in California. The film takes an objective and at times emotional perspective on the events of the hospital without over emotionalizing them. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member sad to see how screwed up the health care system is Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member perilous failure of insurance that leaves so many people flooding ERs who are barely equipped for such massive swaths of ill people Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member This will make you want to visit healthcare.gov to get covered before the March 31 deadline. The documentary that takes us to the waiting room of a public hospital caring for a community of uninsured patients is a snapshot of the American health care system before the Affordable Care Act. The film gives an intimate look at how patients, doctors, and emergency room staff cope with disease, fear, poverty, bureaucracy, and hard choices. It's well worth the watch, particularly when the deadline for getting covered is approaching in about a month. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Amazing documentary! Should be required viewing for every member of Congress. This is what you face if you're uninsured and unemployed or one of the working poor in America. It HUMANIZED these people. And the patience and compassion of the medical professionals was nothing short of heroic as they struggled to meet people's needs day after day in a system that was never designed for it. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      The Waiting Room

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis Filmmaker Peter Nicks chronicles events at a public hospital's emergency room, where the overworked staff and many uninsured patients must cope with disease, injury, bureaucracy and hard choices.
      Director
      Peter Nicks
      Producer
      William B. Hirsch, Scott Verges
      Distributor
      International Film Circuit [us]
      Production Co
      ITVS (Independent Television S
      Genre
      Documentary
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Sep 26, 2012, Limited
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Jan 4, 2017
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $244.1K
      Runtime
      1h 21m
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