Meet this Member: Olena Gordon, MD

The solo practice in Niles is in a simple storefront not far from Lutheran General Hospital.  But inside this small storefront practice you’ll find the dynamic duo of Dr. Olena Gordon and her daughter, Viktoria Kontseva. Together they are the brains and heart behind the UMANA-Illinois chapter’s incredible drive to equip physicians, soldiers and other providers in Ukraine and Poland with the supplies, equipment and medications desperately needed for the people of Ukraine who have now endured more than 100 days of Russian military attacks.

Gordon was born in Ukraine and came to the US in 2003 after medical school.  After working as a phlebotomist in Detroit, she was accepted to the Saints Mary and Elizabeth’s Hospital Family Medicine Residency in Chicago (Becoming Ascension St. Mary’s Hospital effective July 1).  Fun fact about her residency, her older brother, Dr. Vlodomyr Dovnyy, was her chief resident during her second year!     

Dr. Gordon in in the middle of a two-year term as President of the Illinois Chapter of the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America (UMANA).  UMANA was founded in 1950, is a voluntary non-profit association of professionals licensed to practice in their areas of health care in the United States and Canada. UMANA’s objectives are:

• Unite health care professionals of Ukrainian descent, who share an interest in promoting the health of Ukrainians
• Share medical knowledge and scientific research with emphasis on aspects unique to Ukrainians

But now they needed to do more to help their families and colleagues in Ukraine. This was completely uncharted territory for this association, but Gordon was determined to make it happen.  Days after the invasion began on February 26 she called the national office to say they needed to do more than send money.  Though she had no large-scale humanitarian experience, Gordon and her colleagues were undaunted. They immediately got to work starting on March 1 and found the right logistics organizations to partner with.

“There were lots of organization sending humanitarian aid, so we said we need to focus on the just the medical – supplies and medication,” says Gordon.  “We can be more effective, reaching out to our colleagues in Ukraine and getting them exactly what they need.” That was the start of something big.   

The results are staggering in scope and success as donations poured in from area providers and other surrounding states.  So far, they’ve chartered four cargo planes with supplies, which even included five ambulances.  The cargo aircraft and flights were donated from people in California.  Viktoria became the point person coordinating volunteers and promoting the efforts via extensive social media.  Soon the amount of space required to organize the avalanche of donations, painstakingly inventory every item, and properly ship these supplies overseas grew. The rules and procedures for packing and labeling the proper palates and shipping medical equipment overseas is more daunting than they knew going in!

A warehouse near O’Hare airport was donated and became UMANA-Illinois central where 50-100 volunteers at a time gathered around the clock to keep the supplies on the move to Poland and Ukraine. 

Another unique project from UMANA-Illinois packs and sends 30-50 individual suitcases filled with medical supplies requested by Ukraine doctors on flights to Poland every week since March.  After landing in Poland, the suitcases are driven to the border where they are delivered directly to the individual providers listed on the address label for each one.  So far about 5,000 suitcases have been sent - and not a single one has been lost! 

“My lesson is when you want to do more, not just write the check or send a box, go ahead and do more- try, just try!” says Gordon. “I didn’t have any experience, but I said I want to do this and we’re going to try.” As UMANA-Illinois has shown, you can do great things and fast!

What’s next?

The UMANA Illinois Chapter has been in constant contact with physicians on the ground in Ukraine. They will now shift focus to purchasing medication and critical supplies for hospitals in Eastern Ukraine for emergency and long-term care, and recovery for the injured.  Specifically, they will purchase from Belgium for direct delivery of tourniquets and military medical kits for soldiers and also portable ventilators and defibrillators.  For the hospitals they will purchase Bovie electrosurgery machines, specialized medical surgery tables and lamps, and craniotomy sets.   

Donate online or mail check to their Chicago Headquarters https://umana.org/help-ukraine/

Follow them on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/UMANAIllinois

Instagram:  umana_Illinois

As of May 5, The UMANA Foundation has received over $1,438,000 in donations to aid medical relief in Ukraine to date.  The foundation has also received in-kind donations from hospitals, clinics, medical supply companies and pharmacies around the United States.   You’ll likely recognize many of the donors listed on their website https://umana.org/help-ukraine/donors-that-help-us/.