Dr. Amish Shah is running for Congress in AZ 01. He has spent over two decades answering the call in emergency departments across Arizona, often stepping into hospitals under severe staffing shortages to ensure care reaches underserved communities. Dr. Shah’s practice in emergency medicine is inseparable from his broader mission: bridging gaps in healthcare access, reforming systems from within, and championing mental health as integral to community well-being. His awards reflect not just clinical excellence, but also a powerful blend of advocacy, innovation, and public service. His dedication to patients and to systemic improvement has earned him high honors from his peers: In September 2023, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) awarded him the Pamela P. Bensen Trailblazer Award, recognizing his groundbreaking contributions to emergency medicine and the growth of the specialty.
Dr. Richard Pan is a practicing pediatrician, former California State Senator and Assemblymember, and a nationally recognized public health leader running for Congress in California’s 6th District. During his tenure of over a decade in the California Legislature, Dr. Pan chaired the Senate and Assembly Health Committees, helped lead the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in California, and reduced the uninsured rate by almost two-thirds. He has authored major legislation to lower the cost of prescription drugs, including a law that got $11 insulin for diabetics in California, expand access to care, strengthen public health infrastructure, and protect children and families. Dr. Pan co-founded Healthy Kids Healthy Future, which has provided health coverage to more than 65,000 children. He continues to practice medicine and teach at UC Davis, bringing real-world experience to his work in public policy. He is running for Congress to continue fighting for affordable health care, strong public schools, and an economy that works for working families.
Professor John E McDonough is a professor of practice at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in Boston. Between 2008 and 2010, he was Senior Advisor on National Health Reform in the U.S. Senate where he worked on writing and passing the Affordable Care Act. Between 2003-2008, he was Executive Director of Health Care For All, Massachusetts’ consumer health organization where he helped to pass 2006 Massachusetts health reform. From 1985 to 1997, he was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives where he co-chaired the Joint Committee on Health Care. He holds a doctorate in public health from the University of Michigan and a master’s in public administration from the Kennedy School at Harvard.
His new must read just published book is America’s Wrong Turn: U.S. Healthcare in the Neoliberal Era. McDonough reveals how a national commitment to economic freedom above all else set the stage for today’s dysfunctional health care system. Despite today’s crises, he also highlights new efforts that signal a new direction based on fairness, accountability, and the restoration of health as a public value. America’s Wrong Turn offers framework for understanding how the United States arrived at this moment and what it will take to create a system worthy of the people it serves.