Paul N. Saunders oral history transcript
- PC054-S12-B01-F27-i01
- Item
- July 9, 1990
Part of Washington University Medical Center Desegregation History Project Records
An interview of the Washington University Medical Center Desegregation History Project, conducted by Edwin W. McCleskey and associates, 1990. Approximate Length: 64 minutes.
Paul Saunders discusses the suit he and others filed against Barnes Hospital in 1978 for civil rights violations, as well as the state of health care policy and health care for Black people in St. Louis.
Saunders discusses the policy for “geographic separation of patients” at Barnes Hospital’s Maternity Hospital, initiated by hospital director Robert Frank in 1978, and the suit Saunders and others filed with the Missouri Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
He addresses hospital policies and procedures which create informal segregation, and the effects of white flight on medical care in St. Louis, particularly for indigent patients. He discusses the need for national health insurance, and barriers created by the current health care system for Black patients.