Nora Kenworthy Wins Inaugural Procedure Award for Crowded Out

Book recognized with top honor in new literary prize for challenging conventional narratives in medicine and healthcare through the lens of crowdfunding.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Procedure Press is pleased to announce Crowded Out: The True Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare by Nora Kenworthy, PhD, (MIT Press) as the winner of the inaugural Procedure Award.

Chosen from more than 50 submissions, Crowded Out was selected for its originality, artistic and literary strength, relevance to healthcare, and its ability to inspire a deeper exploration of how Americans access healthcare. Kenworthy is receiving a custom-designed luxury pill box created in collaboration with Chronically Chic designer Kallista Hammer, featuring artwork by illustrator Yuqi Lu as the award trophy in recognition of her outstanding contribution to healthcare writing.

“It’s a very enlightening and moving critique of how Americans have come to use crowdsourcing to solve healthcare affordability problems,” said Dr. Victor Montori, Mayo Clinic endocrinologist, researcher, author of Why We Revolt, and guest judge for The Procedure Awards. “I’m very familiar with this space, yet I learned new ways society shows up through crowdfunding to provide mutual assistance, and yet how most people never receive a dollar. A twisted and sickening form of meritocracy and influencing, here too, renders some as seemingly more deserving of care and support than others. This book surprised me frequently, and throughout it all, did so with care and compassion.”

About the Author: Kenworthy is a writer, professor, and public health expert whose work examines how politics, technology, and inequality affect health. She is a Professor of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Washington (UW) Bothell, and she also holds adjunct appointments in the Departments of Anthropology and Global Health at UW Seattle.

About the Book: In Crowded Out, Kenworthy examines how crowdfunding, often framed as a lifeline for patients in need, has evolved into a system that frequently excludes the very people it claims to help. Offering a stark reflection of the U.S. healthcare system, the book delivers a compelling critique of how access to care and resources is determined and who ultimately benefits and who is left behind.

About the Judges: Along with Dr. Montori, the guest judging panel included Dr. Rana Awdish, pulmonary and critical care physician at Henry Ford Hospital and author of the bestselling In Shock: My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power of Hope, and Dr. Todd Otten, family physician, decorated naval flight surgeon, and co-author of Ripple of Change.

The other shortlist finalists for The Procedure Awards were Winter’s End: Dementia and Dying Well by Lewis Cohen, MD; Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation by Dr. Jen Gunter; The Body Is a Doorway: A Memoir: A Journey Beyond Healing, Hope, and the Human by Sophie Strand; and Treating Violence: An Emergency Room Doctor Takes On a Deadly American Epidemic by Rob Gore, MD.

“We are celebrating and elevating the voices of talented authors covering the issues in healthcare that matter most,” said Emily F. Peters, CEO, Uncommon Bold and author of Artists Remaking Medicine and Women Remaking Medicine. “It’s such a pleasure to spotlight these books that span a wide and important spectrum of healthcare topics, raise awareness, and spark change.”

Launched in fall 2025, The Procedure Awards welcomes submissions from authors with books published in the last two years related to healthcare topics. The submissions include writing centered on patient, clinician, and community voices; exploring the intersections of health and social progress; or blending art, science, and lived experience. For more information about Procedure Press and The Procedure Awards, visit here and stay tuned for details on next year’s nominations.

About Uncommon Bold

Founded in 2013, Uncommon Bold is an award-winning, full-service brand agency with a data-informed approach and deep specialization in the healthcare sector. Uncommon Bold teams with experts, artists, researchers, journalists, clinicians, and patients to bring healthcare stories to life. The agency launched its publishing division, Procedure Press, in 2018 to support books reflecting the complex reality of the healthcare landscape and exploring systems of change.