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(Left to Right) Mercy gastroenterologist Dr. Jonathan Schreiber is presented with his award by Maryland State Delegate Shirley Nathan Pulliam and Jeff Singer, President and CEO of Health Care for the Homeless.

Mercy Gastroenterologist Dr. Jonathan Schreiber Recognized By Maryland Hepatitis Coalition At "Hepatitis Heroes" Event Held At Health Care For The Homeless

The Maryland Hepatitis Coalition – in recognition of Hepatitis Awareness Month – recently held a press conference/event at Health Care for the Homeless, 421 Fallsway (Baltimore, MD 21202), recognizing Mercy Medical Center gastroenterologist Dr. Jonathan Schreiber, among others. A number of civic and community leaders were slated to attend, including Delegate Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, Maryland House of Delegates; Angela Wakhweya, MD, MSc.Econ., Deputy Director, Infectious Disease and Environmental Health Administration; Appolonius Bama, LPN, Total Health Care, Men's Health Center; Frank Parish, RN, CIC, Baltimore City Detention Center; Kathleen L. Becker, DNP, CRNP, Healthcare for the Homeless/Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing; and Dr. Schreiber.

The Maryland Hepatitis Coalition seeks to raise awareness and celebrate the great work that is being done to treat, prevent and advocate for people living with hepatitis. The event served as the first ”Hepatitis Heroes” event and focused on health care providers and advocates in the greater Baltimore metropolitan area.

Hepatitis is a group of viral infections that inflame the liver and can cause liver cancer. Hepatitis A, B, and C are the most common types of the disease. More than 4 million Americans have viral hepatitis and an estimated 85,000 become infected each year. National estimates suggest that 73,000 to 106,000 Marylanders have been infected with Hepatitis virus during their lifetime.

Dr. Jonathan Schreiber earned his medical degree in 1982 from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and completed his Fellowship in Gastroenterology in 1987 at the University of Maryland Hospital. Prior to coming to Mercy, Dr. Schreiber was an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland Hospital. He earned his board certification in Gastroenterology in 1987.

As a gastroenterologist at Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Jonathan B. Schreiber, M.D., is a hero to hundreds of people who are living without adequate shelter and whose primary medical care comes from Health Care for the Homeless. Schreiber receives about 30 referrals a month from the organization; virtually all of these patients are unable to pay for his services.

Dr. Schreiber is known for his generosity and commitment to vulnerable populations, for his generous spirit, for treating all of his patients exceptionally well, and for never saying “no” to someone in need of his help.

“The difficulty in providing health care to the homeless of Baltimore is painfully evident,” Dr. Schreiber said. “What I do is not very heroic. I see Health Care for the Homeless referrals in my office, often right alongside patients of much higher socio-economic standing. In most case, the other patients have no idea who these Health Care for the Homeless people are, nor do they know of the difficult straights in which (the homeless) find themselves. On occasion, when my (paying) patients do learn about the situation of the homeless, they almost always respond with compassion.”

One particularly important area of gastrointestinal care is dealing with Hepatitis C.

“Baltimore has an extremely high rate of this condition and it is overly represented in urban, poor and homeless populations,” Dr. Schreiber said. “I see these patients on a regular basis and work with Mercy, which is very generous in providing access to its labs, facilities and other forms of support to provide treatment—and sometimes a cure—for this life-threatening illness.”