“American Hospitals: Healing A Broken System” has its Lehigh Valley premiere, 7 p.m. April 24, Frank Banko Alehouse Cinema, ArtsQuest Center, SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem. The documentary film takes a look at hospital costs. The filmmakers say they hope to encourage a national dialogue on solutions to bring costs in line with economic growth. The film is produced by Lehigh Valley businessman Richard Master, above, and produced and directed by Lehigh Valley film-maker Vincent Mondillo. “American Hospitals” is the fourth in a series of documentaries produced by Mondillo and Master, who began to look at the economics of the U.S. health-care system after Master’s company was hit year after year with double-digit health insurance rate increases. Master is CEO of MCS Industries Inc., Palmer Township, and founder of Unfinished Business Foundation, a non-profit that examines the impacts of healthcare costs. The duo previously made “Fix-It: Healthcare At The Tipping Point,” “Big Pharma: Market Failure” and “Big Money Agenda: Democracy on the Brink.” All four films have been edited and sound-designed by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Henry Nevison, who has made documentaries for the History Channel, A&E, Discovery Channel, and PBS. Joining Master and Mondillo as Associate Producer for “American Hospitals” is former health-care executive Wendell Potter, who left a 20-year-career in the health-insurance business. Potter, a New York Times best-selling author, has testified before Congressional and state legislative committees and leads the Center for Health and Democracy that advocates for health-care reform that advocate for health-care reform. The film-makers say that “American Hospitals: Healing A Broken System” is based on several years of research and interviews with patients, physicians, nurses and nationally-recognized experts in hospital administration, healthcare economics and policy. The film is said to examine a path that one state has taken to change the economic incentives motivating hospital strategies. There will be a reception and question-and-answer session with the filmmakers and other experts after the screening at Banko Cinemas. The event is free and open to the public. Reservations required:

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