# Quentin Young
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{{Short description|American physician (1923–2016)}}
{{distinguish|Quentin Young (baseball)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Quentin David Young
| image =
|birth_name=
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|09|5}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|03|07|1923|09|5}}
| birth_place = [Chicago, Illinois](/source/Chicago)
|death_place = [Berkeley, California](/source/Berkeley%2C_California)
| occupation = [Physician](/source/Physician)
| spouse =
|children =
|alma_mater = [Hyde Park High School](/source/Hyde_Park_Academy_High_School),
[University of Chicago](/source/University_of_Chicago)
}}
'''Quentin David Young''' (September 5, 1923 – March 7, 2016) was an American physician who was recognized for his efforts in advocating for [single-payer health care](/source/single-payer_health_care) in the [United States](/source/United_States). An activist who opposed the [Vietnam War](/source/Vietnam_War) and worked on the [Civil Rights Movement](/source/Civil_Rights_Movement), Young was best known for speaking out about social justice in the realm of health policy.
==Education and career==
Young was born in [Chicago, Illinois](/source/Chicago), the son of Sarah Wolf and Abraham Young, a real estate salesman. His parents were [Jewish](/source/Jewish) immigrants from Eastern Europe.[{{cite news|last1=Roberts|first1=Sam|title=Dr. Quentin D. Young, Public Health and Civil Rights Advocate, Dies at 92|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/18/us/dr-quentin-d-young-public-health-and-civil-rights-advocate-dies-at-92.html?_r=0|access-date=March 26, 2016|work=New York Times|date=March 17, 2016}}] He attended [Hyde Park High School](/source/Hyde_Park_Academy_High_School), the [University of Chicago](/source/University_of_Chicago), and [Northwestern University](/source/Northwestern_University) [Medical School](/source/Feinberg_School_of_Medicine).[{{cite news | last = O'Donnell | first = Maureen | last2 = Dudek | first2 = Mitch | title = Dr. Quentin D. Young, 'Tiger for Social Justice,' Dies at 92 | work = [Chicago Sun-Times](/source/Chicago_Sun-Times) | date = March 8, 2016 | url = http://chicago.suntimes.com/obituaries/doctor-activist-quentin-young-dies-at-age-92/ | access-date = March 24, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160313013426/http://chicago.suntimes.com/obituaries/doctor-activist-quentin-young-dies-at-age-92/ | archive-date = March 13, 2016 | url-status = dead }}] He interned at [Cook County Hospital](/source/Cook_County_Hospital) in 1947 and did his residency there.[Lewis 1994]
He was a founder and served as national chairman of the [Medical Committee for Human Rights](/source/Medical_Committee_for_Human_Rights), which was formed in June 1964 to provide medical care for civil rights workers, community activists, and summer volunteers working in Mississippi during [Freedom Summer](/source/Freedom_Summer).[[http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/12/15/965/02862/21/673235 DailyKos, December 15, 2008] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090118031548/http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/12/15/965/02862/21/673235 |date=January 18, 2009 }}] Quentin Young and MCHR also volunteered and helped set up [Black Panthers](/source/Black_Panthers) and [Young Lords](/source/Young_Lords) health clinics and provided emergency medical care to protesters at the [1968 Democratic National Convention](/source/1968_Democratic_National_Convention_protest_activity) in Chicago. In October 1968 he was called to testify before the [House Un-American Activities Committee](/source/House_Un-American_Activities_Committee) about his knowledge of the DNC protests.[https://web.archive.org/web/20090831024018/http://geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/1553/c68chron.html Chicago '68: A Chronology]
Young was Chairman of Medicine at [Cook County Hospital](/source/Cook_County_Hospital) in Chicago from 1972 to 1981.
Young founded [Health and Medicine Policy Research Group](/source/Health_and_Medicine_Policy_Research_Group) in 1980, and for many years was chairman of the board of that organization.
Young was President of [American Public Health Association](/source/American_Public_Health_Association) in 1988.
In April 2008, Young retired from his private practice in [Hyde Park, Chicago](/source/Hyde_Park%2C_Chicago), which he co-ran with fellow activist [David Scheiner](/source/David_Scheiner). For many years was the national coordinator for Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP).
On April 17. 2009, he was appointed by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to chair the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board. From 1967-2008 he was senior physician of Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center.
He died on March 7, 2016, in California.[{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/quentin-young-chicago-doctor-and-social-activist-dies-at-92/2016/03/08/444f0272-e55d-11e5-b0fd-073d5930a7b7_story.html |title=Quentin Young, Chicago doctor and social activist, dies at 92 |date=March 8, 2016 |author1=staff reports |author2=news services |newspaper=[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post) |place=Washington, D.C. |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=1330888409}}] Dr. Young was survived by five children: Nancy, Polly, Ethan, Barbara and Michael.
==Positions of note==
* Clinical Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, [University of Illinois Medical Center](/source/University_of_Illinois_Medical_Center)
* Senior Attending Physician, [Michael Reese Hospital](/source/Michael_Reese_Hospital)
* Member, [American Medical Association](/source/American_Medical_Association) (since 1952))
* National Coordinator, [Physicians for a National Health Program](/source/Physicians_for_a_National_Health_Program)
* Chairman, [American College of Physicians](/source/American_College_of_Physicians)' Subcommittee on Human Rights and Medical Practice
* Member, Humana-Michael Reese Medical Board
* Member, [American College of Physicians](/source/American_College_of_Physicians) Health and Public Policy Committee
* Personal physician to [Martin Luther King Jr.](/source/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.) during his stay in Chicago, and also to Chicago Mayor [Harold Washington](/source/Harold_Washington), author [Studs Terkel](/source/Studs_Terkel), Illinois Governor [Pat Quinn](/source/Pat_Quinn_(politician)) and personal physician to Chemist, the late Samuel Shore. President [Barack Obama](/source/Barack_Obama) was the patient of Dr. Young's practice partner, Dr. David Scheiner, for twenty years before becoming president.
* Personal physician to the Reverend Jesse Jackson.
* Featured (and documented) in the book "The Enemies Within" by Trevor Loudon
==The public's physician==
Young appeared regularly at public health events and was considered the ''de facto'' authority on public health in Chicago. He was a frequent guest on [Chicago Public Radio](/source/Chicago_Public_Radio), especially the weekday news magazine program [Eight Forty-Eight](/source/Eight_Forty-Eight). The medical Students for Human Rights worked with him to set up several free neighborhood clinics in Chicago including the [Black Panthers](/source/Black_Panthers) and [Young Lords](/source/Young_Lords) clinics.
==Efforts for single-payer healthcare==
According to Young, "national health insurance is no longer the best solution, it's the only solution: All other alternatives have been proven disastrous failures."[USA Today 2005]
Young has worked with [Physicians for a National Health Program](/source/Physicians_for_a_National_Health_Program) (PNHP) since 1987, a Chicago-based not-for-profit organization. He was the National Coordinator for PNHP.
==Activism during the Bush administration==
===NSA domestic surveillance===
In May 2006, Young signed on as a plaintiff in a suit filed by the [American Civil Liberties Union](/source/American_Civil_Liberties_Union) (ACLU) against [AT&T](/source/AT%26T), alleging that the [telecommunications](/source/telecommunications) company provided its customers' phone records to the [United States government](/source/Federal_government_of_the_United_States) without a court-issued warrant. Young joined historian and author [Studs Terkel](/source/Studs_Terkel) who was also a [plaintiff](/source/plaintiff) in the case. This suit was part of the [NSA warrantless surveillance controversy](/source/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_controversy), during which it was reported that the [National Security Agency](/source/National_Security_Agency) was maintaining a [database of phone calls](/source/NSA_call_database) placed domestically in the United States.
===Medical savings accounts===
Young is an outspoken opponent of [medical savings account](/source/medical_savings_account) (MSAs), a public health policy promoted by President [George W. Bush](/source/George_W._Bush). Young calls them a "scam on American patients and taxpayers," and "based on the incorrect assumption that Americans are addicts for health care and that if there isn’t a dollar barrier, they’ll overconsume. In fact, Americans get fewer doctors’ visits than people in countries with [universal health care](/source/universal_health_care)."[Physician's Weekly 2006]
==References==
===Footnotes===
{{Reflist}}
===Bibliography===
*{{cite book
|author = Lewis, Sydney
|title = Hospital: An Oral History of Cook County Hospital
|year = 1994
|isbn = 0-425-15452-1
}}
==External links==
*{{cite web
| title = ACLU sues AT&T over phone records
| work = Chicago Tribune
| url = http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060522aclu-suit,1,2768911.story?coll=chi-news-hed
| access-date = May 22, 2006
}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}
*{{cite web
| title = Biography on NPR's Fresh Air
| work = Fresh Air
| url = http://www.pnhp.org/freshair/young_bio.php
}}
*[http://www.gvsu.edu/younglords Young Lords in Lincoln Park ]
*{{cite web
|title=Are MSAs (Medical Savings Accounts) the wave of the future?
|work=Physician's Weekly
|url=http://www.physiciansweekly.com/pc.asp?issueid=29&questionid=30
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061029171846/http://physiciansweekly.com/pc.asp?issueid=29&questionid=30
|archive-date=October 29, 2006 }}
*{{cite web
| title =Daily Kos, Meet Dr. Quentin Young w/VIDEO
| work =Daily Kos
| url =http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/12/15/673086/-Daily-Kos-Meet-Dr-Quentin-Young
| access-date=December 15, 2008
}}
*{{cite web
| title =UPDATE!-86 Year Old Man Pwans Max Baucus
| work =Daily Kos
| url =http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/09/29/787598/-UPDATE-86-Year-Old-Man-Pwns-Max-Baucus
| access-date=September 29, 2009
}}
*{{cite news
| title = Few solutions on the horizon as health costs rise
| work = USA Today
| url = https://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2005-09-01-kaiser-news_x.htm
| access-date =May 22, 2010
| first1=Julie
| last1=Appleby
| first2=Richard
| last2=Wolf
| date=September 1, 2005
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Quentin}}
Category:1923 births
Category:2016 deaths
Category:American health activists
Category:Feinberg School of Medicine alumni
Category:Members of the Democratic Socialists of America from Illinois
Category:Physicians from Chicago
Category:20th-century American medical doctors
Category:21st-century American medical doctors
Category:Young Lords
---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Quentin Young](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quentin_Young) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quentin_Young?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.