Chicago Orthopedist and Spouse Named CNN “Heroes of the Year”

Dr. Daniel Ivankovich, an orthopedic surgeon in Chicago, Illinois, has been named one of CNN’s ten “Heroes of the Year” as a result of his work treating patients in some of the most violent neighborhoods of Chicago. “They’re the mean streets” Ivankovich told a CNN reporter. “People call them the killing fields.”

“These are definitely some of the most challenged communities in America, ” he said. “No matter what you look at—crime, health, life expectancy—it’s really bad.” During 20 years of practice Ivankovich saw patients who had neither medical insurance nor means to pay, struggle to get medical care. Then, in 2010, he and his wife co-founded the nonprofit One Patient Global Health Initiative.

In Global Health’s three Chicago clinics, no one is turned away because of inability to pay for treatment. He performs more than 600 surgeries a year and estimates that more than 100, 000 people have benefited from the program. He told Anderson Cooper, of CNN, “The greatest thing we give them is hope. I know I can’t fix everybody. My goal is to be the battering ram to help break down the barriers to get these patients the care and the resources they need.”

CNN’s Laura Klairmont spoke with Ivankovich about the motivation behind his work. He told her that when the temperature gets up above 85 degrees that the violent crimes skyrocket. “Victims of violent crime come through our doorstep every day. It’s something that is so common that we almost are desensitized to it, “he said.

Ivankovich told Klairmont that one of their clinics used to be at the intersection of Jackson Boulevard and Laramie Avenue “We had to leave because we saw a young teen get shot at point-blank just outside the door of our clinic. Over the course of a year we witnessed four murders just on that intersection. It was like we were in the middle of a war zone.”

The co-founder and president of One Patient Global Health Initiative, is Karla Ivankovich, Ph.D., who is a Licensed Clinical Professional. The wife of Ivankovich, she earned advanced degrees in both Human Development Counseling and INO-Disability Studies from the University of Illinois. She also earned her Doctorate of Philosophy degree in Psychology.

Both say that their organization’s biggest mission is to help people who lack medical insurance. Ivankovich explained: “Many people who are uninsured or on Medicaid are forced to ignore their health issues. So when they can’t put it off anymore, they use emergency rooms as their primary source of medical treatment and aren’t able to access any follow-up care, which could potentially cause a basic injury to become life-threatening. Oftentimes when a patient’s finally made it to our clinic, they tell me they’ve been hung up on by 10 or 12 other physician providers because they don’t have insurance. It’s heartbreaking when you hear the struggles that the patients have to go through for the basics.”

To the CNN reporter’s question, “Can anyone come to your clinics for medical care?” Ivankovich replied, “We take care of everybody, regardless of insurance and without prejudice.” He explained that the conditions the clinics treat are fractures, sports medicine, spinal reconstruction, major joint reconstruction and hips and knees. “Every day we are in the operating room, and we are doing between two and five procedures, ” he said.