Dean Peterson Featured in Documentary on the Uninsured

At right, Donna Petersen, Dean of the USF College of Public Health, during a prior interview.

WEDU DOCUMENTARY: The Uninsured- Help & Hope

Donna Petersen, MHS, ScD, Dean of the USF College of Public Health, is featured in a WEDU documentary entitled “The Uninsured: Help & Hope“. “This documentary does a wonderful job illustrating that the uninsured look like you and me – any of us can be caught in a desperate health care situation at any time,” said Petersen. “Even with insurance health care can be a complex maze – without it, people really struggle to get the care they need to stay alive, feel well, go back to work, lead productive lives.”

To date, the largest group of uninsured in this U.S. includes young adults, ages 18 - 24. Dean Petersen is part of the hour long broadcast focusing on the growing problem of uninsured residents, as well as raise awareness of the caring volunteers who help create access to health services to those most in need. In Florida, the nation’s 4th largest state, an estimated 3.5 million residents lack health insurance. That’s 1 in 4 Floridians without health insurance. In Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, an estimated 278,000 local residents are uninsured.

TO VIEW DEAN PETERSEN’S INTERVIEW, CLICK HERE.

Please note: Once on the WEDU webpage, click on “Watch Video”.

“I hope many people are able to watch this compelling show. My daughter and her friend watched the entire program with me – they were fascinated and asked lots of questions and offered many insightful comments. It is an important conversation for us, as a community, to have – how important is it to all of us to make sure that truly caring health care is available to each of us?” said Petersen. “After watching this show I hope others are compelled to speak out on this issue or to give something back as so many of the generous people depicted in this show have done. It really is about our health.”

- USF Health -