As an emergency room doctor, Dr. Thomas Fisher has about three minutes to spend with the patients who come into the South Side of Chicago ward where he works before directing them to the next stage of their care. In The Emergency, Fisher brings us through his shift, and when he goes home, he remains haunted by what he sees throughout his day: the brutal wait times, the disconnect between hospital executives and policymakers and the people they're supposed to serve. To cope, Fisher begins writing letters to patients and colleagues-letters he will never send-explaining it all to them as best he can. As fast-paced as an ER shift, The Emergency has all the elements that make doctors' stories so compelling. And, with the rare added perspective of policymaking experience, Fisher connects these human stories to the sometimes-cruel machinery of care. Beautifully written, vulnerable and deeply empathetic, The Emergency is a call for reform that offers a fresh vision of health care as a foundation of social justice.