FARMINGTON – Dr. Constance Adler, a health care provider affiliated with Franklin Health Women’s Care and a member of the Franklin Memorial Hospital medical staff, was one of the nine individuals and Maine-based organizations recently presented with the Medical Humanitarian Award for Exceptional Leadership and Service in Medical and Humanitarian Relief by the Daniel Hanley Center for Health Leadership. Her colleague Dr. Jay Naliboff nominated her for the award.
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For the past decade, Dr. Adler has been a key figure in the operations and development of the Maria Luisa Ortiz Cooperative Clinic in Mulukuka, Nicaragua. In addition to regularly delivering donated supplies and equipment to the clinic from the United States, Dr. Adler provides direct patient care and educates staff at the clinic about emergency care and obstetrics.
After recognizing the lack of transportation to the regional hospital as being a major obstacle for sick, pregnant women, Dr. Adler was instrumental in raising $40,000 for the purchase of an ambulance for the clinic. She has also been involved in the establishment of the clinic’s Casa Materna, which serves women with high-risk pregnancies. The clinic provides a safe environment for the birth of the child through post-partum care. (Read about an event this weekend to benefit Casa Materna here.)
Other Hanley Center honorees included: Chiedza Jokonya, MD, Maine-Dartmouth Family Practice Residency, Augusta; Elizabeth McLellan, MSN, MPH, Partners for World Health, Portland; Jennifer Morton, DNP, MPH, University of New England; Hector Tarraza, MD, Global Health Ministry, Portland; Konbit Sante Cap Hatien Health Partnership, Portland; Project Guatemala, Portland; Safe Passage, Falmouth; and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, Lewiston
The awards recognize not only extraordinary service, but also exceptional leadership, collaboration and impact, according to the Hanley Center. The Center’s 2010 honorees include a wide range of Maine caregivers and organizations that have provided critically important health care services over the course of many years to people around the globe who suffer from poverty, illness and the aftermath of natural and man-disasters.
Franklin Community Health Network President Rebecca Ryder, who attended the award’s ceremony affirmed, “Last year Dr. Adler was also presented with the Maine Medical Association’s Humanitarian Award for her work in Maine and Central America. We admire her commitment to practice and teach in underserved areas—enriching others knowledge and practice of medicine—in settings with few resources.”
The honors were presented before an audience of 350 at the Holiday Inn by the Sea in downtown Portland. The Hanley Center is an independent statewide nonprofit dedicated to building a culture of greater collaboration among health care leaders and their organizations across Maine.
