Your World ;
; Haitian earthquake survivors languished.
; Many hadn’t seen a doctor.
; Could one volunteer make a difference?
One by one, patients entered
the tent where gerontologist
Martin Gorbien had opened his
makeshift clinic, a far cry from
his facility at Rush University
in downtown Chicago where
he heads the geriatric division.
The minute he heard of the
Jan. 12 earthquake, which killed
some 230,000 Haitians and left
1.3 million homeless, Gorbien,
54, wanted to rush to the scene.
He remembered reports about
older Americans’ plight after
Hurricane Katrina. How much
worse would it be in a poor
country where even reaching
old age is far from assured?
continued on page 40 ;
A DOCTOR IS COMING,
residents of a tent
city learn (opposite).
Moments later, Martin
Gorbien (left) wheels
his medicine-filled
suitcase into chaos
and sets up a clinic.
He knew there would
be thousands in need
of routine care if they
were to survive. “Tell-
ing people we have
something for pain,
or to help them sleep,
that they’re going
to be OK, that was
helpful,” he says.
Delivering Hope
WITH “BONJOUR”
his only French,
Gorbien relies on
a translator to learn
about a patient’s
problem. High blood
pressure, stomach
ailments, gangrene
and dementia plague
older Haitians,
largely ignored in the
earthquake’s wake.
The most common
complaint? “Pain.”
BLIND and living
in a tent, Marie
Therese Alaine, 88,
awaits help.
By Cynthia Ramnarace | Photos By Maggie Steber
