An Oil Boom Takes A Toll On Health Care

Within his first couple paragraphs, author John Eligon uses diction to illustrate the intensity of the situation in North Dakota. He uses words such as, “furious” “swamped” “flocking” “sinking under skyrocketing debt” and “flood of gruesome injuries and bloated business costs” to illustrate the circumstances in North Dakota. He focuses on one hospital, McKenzie County Hospital, and shows the drastic effects of the oil boom though these effects are “acute” compared to other hospitals in the area. His use of quotations from the hospital’s chief executive also allows him to directly input the struggles with debt that they face within the hospital.  Many of their patients are without health care and give false information which allows them to escape the payment of their hospital bills.  Making the article more personal, the author uses quotations from a man who faces dangers everyday since he works in the oil industry. Eligon also addresses diseases and health issues that the poor living conditions of the “housing camps” generate. He uses many statistics in his article to clearly show the changes that are a result of the industry’s boom. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/us/boom-in-north-dakota-weighs-heavily-on-health-care.html?hp