Voting from a Hospital Bed

November 3, 2018

Patients’ Right to Vote

Spoon Feed
As we approach the midterm election this Tuesday, we need to make our voices heard by voting. Our patients deserve this opportunity as well. Did you know that in most states, patients can still vote while hospitalized? I have to admit, it never occurred to me. I’m pretty proud of our EM colleagues, Kelly Wong, MD, an EM resident at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Alison Hayward, MD, MPH, an attending physician and Assistant Professor at the Warren Alpert Medical School for coming up with this website. They don’t have info on each state yet, but they have details on at least 11 so far. Even if your state isn’t listed, it’s easy to google your home state to find out the rules for voting while hospitalized. I found mine in TN in a few seconds. Many patients will need us, their physicians, to sign off that they are hospitalized and unable to vote. This is a great way to serve our patients and our country at the same time. Many thanks to Conor McWade, EM resident at UC Davis for emailing me this tip!

Check out their website to learn more. PatientVoting.com

Another Spoonful
See this in the Washington Post