David Ansell is Chief Medical Officer at Rush University Medical Center and he also sits on the board that oversees the Cook County Health and Hospitals System. But in the late 1970s, he was a young doctor looking for a place to make a difference.

Cook County Hospital then had a reputation for being dirty, dangerous and understaffed. So, that’s where he went to work.

County: Life, Death and Politics at Chicago’s Public Hospital covers 30 years of hospital history beginning with Ansell’s internship. In it he explores how America’s big fights over health and equality have played out in the gritty halls of Cook County Hospital. Ansell recently sat down and spoke with WBEZ’s Gabriel Spitzer.

Ansell will also be appearing at the Printer’s Row Lit Fest on Sunday, June 5.