Keynote Speaker: Stephen Bezruchka, MD, MPH

We are honored to announce Stephen Bezruchka, MD, MPH, as the keynote speaker for the 2026 WPSR Health Justice Fundraiser. A faculty member at the University of Washington School of Public Health and a former emergency physician with over 30 years of clinical experience, Dr. Bezruchka has dedicated his career to understanding why, despite astronomical healthcare spending, people in the United States experience worse health outcomes than those in many other nations.

A central focus of his work is educating and motivating others around a stark and urgent reality: as he puts it, “we die first in America.” He challenges audiences to look beyond medical care alone and confront the powerful role of social determinants such as inequality, economic conditions, and early life experiences in shaping population health. His message is both sobering and galvanizing: improving health requires addressing the root causes embedded in our social and economic systems.

Dr. Bezruchka’s global perspective is informed by more than a decade spent in Nepal, where he helped establish a teaching hospital and train local physicians. His experiences are described (and available for download) in Trekking, Practicing Medicine and Sharing Knowledge: A Nexus of Personal Perspectives.

An award-winning educator and mentor, he is the author of Born Sick in the USA and Inequality Kills Us All, works that further explore the deep connections between inequality and health. He is also a co-founder and inaugural co-chair of the WPSR’s Economic Inequity & Health Program, and serves on the board of directors. We look forward to an inspiring and thought-provoking keynote as Dr. Bezruchka challenges us to rethink what truly drives health—and how we can build a more just and equitable future.