One Doctor's Compassionate Outreach to Street Kids

(Originally published on Bedside Manner at Everyday Health)
It’s my favorite time of the year at the nonprofit I run, as we gear up for our annual dinner when we anoint the winner of the Schwartz Center Compassionate Caregiver Award.

We receive more than 100 nominations each year and it’s such a pleasure to read through the letters colleagues and patients send in support of the nominees. I thought I would introduce you to the five finalists in the coming weeks, starting with Gregory Fenton, MD, an infectious disease specialist who works with young people who fall outside of more traditional health care settings for a variety of reasons, including homelessness, involvement with street life and the sex industry, being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, etc. He works at the Justice Resource Institute, Sydney Borum Jr. Community Health Center in Boston.

We announce the winner at the November 19th dinner. Once you read all of the profiles, let me know which caregiver you think should win.

Gregory Fenton, MD’s patients lead chaotic lives, at times cut short by illness, addiction, and violence. They are the young transgendered woman, rejected by her family and making her living on the street; the abused youth shuttling from foster home to foster home; the gay homeless teenager living with AIDS and severe mental illness. An infectious disease specialist, Gregory provides superb medical care in a health center that is the only safe haven in many of their lives. He listens compassionately and supports unconditionally.

“Dr. Fenton and I weathered the many trials and tribulations, the joys and sorrows, as a team because in his heart he held a genuine desire for me to have the best possible life,” said one patient, a young mother with a background of severe abuse. “He was a shoulder to cry on when I was scared and a comedian when I needed to laugh.”

Gregory’s modus operandi is to reach out. When patients go missing from his practice, he’ll track them down on the street or in shelters, to make sure they’re safe and taking their medications. He runs an Ask Dr. Greg program at a community center for Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender and Questioning young people, where participants can ask him any medical or health-related question or share a concern. He developed a peer navigator program so that Borum patients who are nervous about going to the ER or a hospital clinic are accompanied by another. And through his teaching and advocacy, he has shaped the way other health centers attend to the medical and social needs of young people with HIV/AIDS.

As the end draws near, Gregory’s patients know he will do whatever he can to comfort them - visiting them daily at the hospital, helping effect reconciliations with estranged parents, and simply being a constant, loving presence.