Rebecca Schanberg said she was “extremely surprised and humbled” when she was named one of six filmmakers?and the only Chicagoan?who received a $5,000 finishing grant from the national Women in Film Foundation for her documentary, “Do No Harm.”
What also makes it surprising is that “Do No Harm” is producer/director Schanberg’s first film.
The $5,000 will be used to pay for the sound mix, Schanberg says. So far, the doc has received around $150,000 in in-kind services and she estimates out-of-pocket costs at $100,000.
“Do No Harm” tells the story of how a surgeon and an accountant from Georgia helped spark a national debate on health care after uncovering serious financial malfeasance at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in 2004.
“They started researching the hospital’s financials, and discovered that this ?nonprofit’ hospital was actually making millions of dollars, over-charging uninsured people, was paying no taxes to the community?no income taxes, no property taxes?and was also denying competition by creating a local monopoly,” said Schanberg.
Schanberg’s film charts what happened as the duo then delved further into nonprofit hospital practices across the state and nationwide, enlisting the assistance of notorious lawyer Dick Scruggs, and enduring vehement attacks from powerful figures within their own community who backed the hospital.
Ultimately, 70 class action lawsuits in 26 states were filed across the country after the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services failed to act on the Georgia case.
