| Many
who know him would describe Dr. Lester Pittle as a saint.
As a doctor of internal medicine at Pike Market Medical
Clinic, a community health clinic, Pittle has been an
advocate for universal healthcare for over 30 years. He
has treated low-income and homeless patients for conditions
such as AIDS, mental illness, and substance abuse, as
well as many low-income elderly. Pittle has been an active
member of the Community Health Council, teaming up with
other doctors to work for achievements like $250,000 grants
towards better treatment for low-income diabetics.
Pittle believes that community health clinics are “band-aids
for a broken system,” and that a person’s
income should not define where they receive health care.
“Thirty percent of healthcare costs go to the administrative
costs of insurance companies,” Pittle says. “If
we could get rid of that 30 percent, we could insure everyone.”
Pittle has done a lot to campaign for a bill that would
create a tax-based trust fund which would act as universal
health insurance. The system would eliminate the administrative
costs of private insurance companies and was deemed effective
by a University of Washington analyst.
The bill has not had the political backing to be passed,
but Pittle is convinced that this is simply due to lack
of awareness and hopes that people will become educated
and vote toward an improved healthcare system.
—Hilary Preston |
