Jennifer Morton receives Medical Humanitarian Award for Ghana healthcare work

University of New England Assistant Professor Jennifer Morton, D.N.P., M.S., M.P.H., was one of the nine individuals and Maine-based organizations to be recognized with a Medical Humanitarian Award presented by the Daniel Hanley Center for Health Leadership Nov. 30, 2010.

The honors were presented before an audience of 350 at the Holiday Inn by the Sea in downtown Portland.

Morton holds joint appointments in UNE's Department of Nursing, Physician Assistant Program, and Graduate Programs in Public Health. 

The award recognized Morton's work in the African nation of Ghana. Morton takes groups of 12 to 22 students to Ghana twice a year for two weeks. Morton's teams work side by side with local medical workers treating malaria, parasites and chronic diseases.

"We've created a learning experience that is more than just plopping students into a clinic," Morton said recently. "It's about opening their eyes and opening their hearts."

Morton's collaborations, along with Ron Deprez, Ph.D., director of UNE's Center for Community and Public Health, have led to to UNE's Ghana Health Partnership, a new, broader public health partnership between UNE, the Ghana Health Service and the University of Cape Coast in Ghana.

The Awards

The other honorees were Constance Adler, MD, Franklin Health Women’s Care, Farmington; Chiedza Jokonya, MD, Maine-Dartmouth Family Practice Residency, Augusta; Elizabeth McLellan, MSN, MPH, Partners for World Health, Portland; 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 healthcare 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.

The keynote speaker for the event was T.R. Reid, the former Washington Post foreign correspondent and NPR commentator whose 2009 book entitled, The Healing of America:  A Global Quest For Better, Cheaper and Fairer Health Care describes how health care is provided and paid for in industrialized democracies that are most like the United States. 

The dinner was co-hosted by Quality Counts and the World Affairs Council of Maine.

The Hanley Center

The Hanley Center is an independent statewide nonprofit dedicated to building a culture of greater collaboration among healthcare leaders and their organizations across Maine.  Since its founding in 2002, the Center has presented its Hanley Leadership Award to six individual leaders and a Maine-based organization for their achievements improving care in Maine and nationally.  This is the first year the Hanley Center has recognized leadership performed by Maine caregivers outside the United States.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.