May 21: Free screening of Do No Harm

Do No Harm, a documentary about the struggle, against relentless attacks, of two reluctant Georgia whistleblowers to draw national attention to hospital corruption and the plight of the uninsured, gets its Chicago premiere Thursday, May 21, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago.

The event opens at 6 p.m. with a reception at Puck's at the MCA. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan will introduce the film. After the screening, a panel discussion will feature Dr. Quentin Young, founder of Physicians for a National Health Program and an advocate for single-payer health care; Mark Rukavina, executive director of The Access Project, whose research has uncovered unfair hospital billing and collection issues; and Donna Smith, founder of American Patients United, an organization whose members believe access to quality health care is a human right.

The film focuses on Phoebe Putney, a nonprofit hospital in Albany, Ga. In 2003, Dr. John Bagnato and accountant Charles Rehberg stumbled on evidence that the hospital overcharged uninsured and indigent patients, using aggressive collections tactics to recover costs. Investigation showed, that despite receiving huge tax breaks, the hospital held millions of dollars in offshore bank accounts and for-profit businesses under its control — and the same went for nonprofit hospitals across the country, while providing minimal charity care. (In other cases, Urbana's Provena Covenant Medical Center lost its tax-exempt status, and the Chicago-area's Advocate Health Care and Resurrection Health Care networks were the subject of class-action lawsuits.)

When they made their discoveries public, Bagnato and Rehberg became the targets of threats and intimidation.

The screening is free, but reservations are required.