South Carolina: Hospital OKs filming for documentary

Hospital OKs filming for documentary

By DALE LINDER-ALTMAN, T&D Correspondent Monday, November 09, 2009

BAMBERG - The Bamberg County Hospital Board has approved a request to allow the man who produced and directed the acclaimed 2005 "Corridor of Shame" to film at the hospital.

Bud Ferillo's "Corridor of Shame" focused on the deplorable conditions of poor rural public schools along Interstate 95 in South Carolina.

Now he wants to make a documentary about the burgeoning problem of kidney disease and diabetes in the Lowcountry area, said Dr. John Ross, a Bamberg surgeon.

Ross assured the board that Ferillo's documentary would not put the hospital in a negative light, saying the filmmaker is passionate about what he can do for people.

In some cases, the Lowcountry has three generations of the same family lined up on dialysis machines, Ross said. The numbers are rising so rapidly that it is almost epidemic in proportion, he said.

Ferillo's documentary may help identify possible environmental factors associated with the health issues, Ross said.

There will be three sections in the documentary, he said. First, it will show patients discussing the issue of kidney disease; it will then go into the dialysis unit to show what happens once people lose their kidney function, Ross said. There will also possibly be some filming in the hospital - an overall view of operations that are required for people who go on dialysis, the Bamberg surgeon said.

"I think that the spin-off of it would be something good could come of it - that a small rural hospital could do some things that may have a positive impact on people's lives - not only in our own areas, but all over the state," Ross said.

"I don't see a downside to this because, again, the hospital would be played up as a very, very good thing in taking care of these patients," he said. "I think the medical community would be portrayed in a very good light."

Ferillo wants to have the filming completed by the end of the year, according to Ross. Its first showing will be in the White House, he said.

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