Doctor to the Stars Now Helps Mexico's Poor Veronica Whitney - Post Independent
go to original October 3, 2013

Hospital Tarahumara Teaser (Fields Of Talent)

His life as a doctor has spanned the spectrum, from the opulence of Aspen to the poverty he found at the Sierra Madre of Mexico.

After almost 30 years practicing as an orthopedic surgeon, to Dr. Michael Berkley operating on actor Jack Nicholson or a Tarahumara Indian is the same. When he lived in the valley, 15 years ago, Berkley used to operate on the richest of Aspen — including Nicholson. These days he treats and operates on the poorest at the Mission Tarahumara Hospital in Samachique, Chihuahua, Mexico.

“One fights for providing the same kind of care to a Tarahumara as to a professional athlete in Aspen,” says Berkley, who 15 years ago initiated with his wife, Maci, Mexico Medical Missions, the nonprofit organization behind the hospital. “I have treated the richest and the poorest. The poorest don’t complain so much”.

Many lives and legs have been saved at the hospital, where four doctors see more than 10,000 people each year, most of them at no cost.

Their budget today is $1 million. The hospital, which also provides jobs to dozens of Tarahumaras, is able to function thanks to the gifts from companies and individual donors.

Read the rest at Post Independent

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