Libertyville center hosts Dialogues in Democracy

Forty-eight hours after the devastating earthquake hit Haiti in January 2010, Dr. David Walton was in Port-a-Prince to help give medical aid.

He will share his experiences and vision for a new hospital in Haiti at May’s Dialogues in Democracy at the Stevenson Center on Democracy in Libertyville.

The event is set for 2 p.m. Sunday, May 15, at the Stevenson Historic Home Forest Preserve, 25200 N. St. Mary’s Road, Libertyville. Tickets are $15 and can be reserved at www.stevensoncenterondemocracy.org or by calling (847) 816-7433.

Walton will be joined by Marjorie Benton, Chicagoan and senior adviser to Partners in Health. Both are working on the construction of the National Teaching Hospital at Mirebalais, a 320-bed, state-of-the-art teaching and referral hospital in central Haiti.

Benton has served as U.S. representative to UNICEF and chair of Save the Children and the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago.

Walton, an Augustana graduate, joined Partners in Health and made his first trip to Haiti the summer of 1998 after his first year at Harvard Medical School. Based on his work with PIH over the last 13 years, he has emerged as a leading expert in the community-based care of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and noncommunicable diseases in resource poor settings.

He now represents PIH as the Deputy Chief of Mission to Haiti. Most recently, Walton has been involved in the cholera response throughout Haiti.

Walton has spent a considerable time living and working in rural Haiti. As a medical student in 2002, he led a team that transformed a nearly defunct public clinic in Haiti’s Central Plateau into a fully functioning center for primary care, women’s health care and chronic disease management.

Following the presentation, attendees will have an opportunity for conversation with the speakers.