The emergence and rapid spread of the novel coronavirus across the world has exposed the profound inadequacies and injustices in our society. We are an independent group of doctors and healthcare workers who place public health above politics. Many of our members are on the frontlines of this crisis on a daily basis. As such, we pose the following reasons for how we got here:

The United States, under the criminally negligent leadership of the current administration, has failed to acknowledge, communicate, plan for, and respond quickly to the pandemic, leading to fatal delays and missed opportunities to contain it. The federal government has dismantled its public health infrastructure over the past decade. As a result, local and state health departments have 25% fewer staff than twelve years ago. The CDC’s budget has fallen by 10% over the last decade. The President eliminated the Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense (known as the pandemic office) in 2018. We are seeing that a healthcare system built on the profit motive cannot secure our public health. Currently, patients do not have access to the care they need, just as healthcare workers do not have access to a safe working environment. When control over an essential human need such as healthcare is ceded to corporate interests, we get a fragmented system of care where profit, rather than patients and healthcare workers, are the priority. This crisis has exposed the sheer inadequacy of tying health insurance to employment. As millions of Americans lose their jobs, they simultaneously lose access to healthcare in the midst of a pandemic. Even those who still have health insurance are finding it increasingly unaffordable with rising premiums, co-pays and deductibles. Without adequate personal protective equipment, sick pay or childcare services, frontline hospital and healthcare professionals are risking their lives and the health of their families. While hospital administration continues to profit, healthcare workers are not being offered adequate protections. Without unions, healthcare workers are effectively silenced without a means to voice their concerns.