Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Dr. Tom Klein talks upcoming award, HIV/AIDS work
by Carrie Maxwell, Windy City Times
2017-11-22

This article shared 1913 times since Wed Nov 22, 2017
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


Longtime advocate and community leader Dr. Tom Klein is set to receive Heartland Health Outreach's ( HHO ) Food For Life award at the organization's annual holiday brunch Sunday, Dec. 3.

HHO is honoring Klein for his long history of advancing the health and well-being of Chicago's LGBTQ community.

Klein was born in Detroit and hospitalized when he was 4 with an intestinal blockage. While Klein was in the hospital, he decided he wanted to be a doctor so he followed the doctors and nurses around and asked them lots of questions.

He got his undergraduate degree in psychology from Wayne State University and his MD degree from Michigan State University before moving to Chicago in 1978 for his family practice residency at St. Joseph Hospital. Klein worked at Howard Brown Memorial Clinic as a volunteer physician on Tuesday nights in 1979 and at the time he was one of the few openly gay doctors there. He has worked with HIV/AIDS patients in Chicago since the second recorded AIDS case in 1982.

"I am very proud to have been recognized both as a board member and a long time physician serving people in our community, especially those with HIV," said Klein. "With this honor, I hope we can fill the room and raise good money for such a great cause. I know so many people in the community and am happy to use this strength to make this event a great success."

"Tom is incredibly dedicated—he has shared his expertise as a leader on multiple HHO committees and is a tireless supporter of our fundraising efforts," said HHO Executive Director Ed Stellon. "Most importantly, Tom helps HHO tell the story of our work and advance a dialogue about the unique healthcare needs of Chicago's homeless. Tom embodies the spirit of HHO. He matches caring with skill to provide meaningful solutions to the seemingly intractable healthcare needs of Chicago's most vulnerable population."

Klein met his husband, Dr. David Gitomer ( DePaul University professor and Eastern religion scholar ), through a patient of Klein's with AIDS who was in Gitomer's HIV support group at Howard Brown Health ( Gitomer was a volunteer and facilitator there for 27 years ). They have been together for 30 years and married for the past five years.

"David was incredibly supportive of me as we struggled to care for so many gay men dying of AIDS through the mid-90s since he lost so many group members over those years," said Klein. "Throughout this time, Dr Ross Slotten was both my medical partner, supporter and friend, as we both struggled to care for mostly dying men. There were times when we had 15-18 people in the hospital and two to three deaths a week. Thankfully, due to all the great HIV drugs available since the mid-1990s, we no longer care for many dying of AIDS although they still succumb at greater rates to cancer and heart disease years later."

Both Klein and Slotten have worked together in their private practice, Klein and Slotten Medical Association, for 32 years.

In his capacity as an HHO board member ( since 2010 with one term as board chair ), Klein has been instrumental in expanding the organization's mission to help those experiencing homelessness across Chicago, including the soon-to-be opened HHO facility ( next spring ) in Englewood.

"HHO is a wonderful organization that provides healthcare to mostly homeless individuals and through Vital Brides, which became a part of the organization five years ago, provides food through its pantries to folks in need, especially those with HIV," said Klein.

Additionally, Klein has served on the boards of Howard Brown Health and Horizon's before it became Center on Halsted. He is also a member of the GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality medical association. In 2016, Klein was inducted into The Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame.

"It was an honor to be inducted into the LGBT Hall of Fame a year ago, which took place after the devastating election last Nov," said Klein. "Many of us felt a sense that, due to our camaraderie, we would all survive these troubling times. I was surprised that my three nieces came from out of town for the ceremony."

When Klein is not working he spends time gardening both in Chicago and in Fennville, Michigan, where he has a vacation home with Gitomer.

"I am proud to continue to serve our great and diverse community in practice and enjoy seeing new young folks and letting them know it is their safe place to be seen, since I have heard it all and seen it all," said Klein. "I am happy to also serve as medical director for my friend Tony Miner's developmental center, which cares for many severely developmentally challenged folks in a great caring environment. In my honor, Tony purchased seven tables for the brunch. I am grateful to Tony and everyone else in my life for their support over the years."

To purchase tickets for the brunch, visit holidaybrunch.squarespace.com/ .


This article shared 1913 times since Wed Nov 22, 2017
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Chicago's LGBTQ+ Advisory Council sets a new course
2024-03-18
Chicago's LGBTQ+ Advisory Council held its first meeting of the calendar year on Feb. 28 at City Hall in the Loop under the leadership of the recently appointed chair Jin-Soo Huh. The LGBTQ+ Advisory Council is ...


Gay News

WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes
2024-03-15
Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...


Gay News

UK health service to stop routinely prescribing puberty blockers to minors
2024-03-14
NHS (National Health Service) England confirmed that children will no longer routinely be prescribed puberty blockers at gender-identity clinics, the BBC reported. The decision came after a review found there was "not enough evidence" that they ...


Gay News

One Roof Chicago launches youth-focused workforce development program
2024-03-14
One Roof Chicago (ORC) is set to launch its first training, education and job placement program for LGBTQ+ young adults in late spring. This Community Health Workers and Elder Care program is a part of ORC's ...


Gay News

Howard Brown experts discuss advocacy and allyship for Chicago's trans community
2024-03-14
By Alec Karam - Howard Brown Health's Trans & Gender Diverse People's Rights & Patient Care panel convened March 12 to discuss both resources for—and opportunities to provide allyship to—the city's trans and gender diverse communities. The event hos ...


Gay News

Howard Brown Health faces October trial if settlement isn't reached with union
2024-03-13
Howard Brown Health could go to trial over unfair labor practice allegations if the LGBTQ+ health center doesn't reach a settlement with its agreement soon. Chicago's regional director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed ...


Gay News

Longtime LGBTQ+-rights activist David Mixner dies at 77
2024-03-12
On March 11, longtime LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS activist David Mixner—known for working on Bill Clinton's presidential campaign but then splitting from him over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT)—died at age 77, The Advocate reported. ...


Gay News

Pro-choice activists protest crisis pregnancy center on International Women's Day
2024-03-11
The rainy weather on March 8 didn't deter a passionate group of pro-choice protesters from gathering in Old Town on International Women's Day. Following the opening of Women's Care Center—a crisis pregnancy center—directly next to Pl ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Altercation, mpox research, Univ. of Fla., George Santos, tech battle
2024-03-08
Video footage uploaded to Facebook showed an altercation between a state trooper and two prominent Philadelphia LGBTQ+ leaders, the Washington Blade reported, republishing an article from Philadelphia Gay News. Celena ...


Gay News

Pride 365 event emphasizes year-round support for LGBTQ+ employees
2024-03-07
Queer employees are queer all year-round. The need for employers to accordingly support and uplift them year-round was the core message at Howard Brown Health and Citywide Pride's Pride 365 "Out of Office to Out in ...


Gay News

AMA launches toolkit to increase screenings for HIV, STIs, hepatitis, tuberculosis
2024-03-06
Press release - CHICAGO — With disruptions in clinical care caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and viral hepatitis across the U.S., the American Medical Association ...


Gay News

APA adopts policy supporting transgender, gender diverse and non-binary individuals
2024-02-28
From a press release: WASHINGTON—The American Psychological Association (APA) has adopted a landmark policy affirming evidence-based care for transgender, gender diverse and nonbinary children, adolescents and adults, noting that recent ...


Gay News

ELECTIONS 2024 Mike Simmons discusses LGBTQ+ health disparities, child tax credit
2024-02-27
State Senator Mike Simmons is running unopposed in the March 19 election. Simmons began representing the 7th District after the former state senator, Heather Steans, retired. He's lived in the area his entire life. ...


Gay News

Advocates call for increased HIV funding amid state's 'disappointing' pattern of flat funding
2024-02-27
Governor JB Pritzker's proposed 2025 budget has no increase in HIV funding, continuing a years-long pattern of flat spending toward tackling the epidemic in Illinois. Pritzker outlined his $52.7 billion budget for the 2025 fiscal year ...


Gay News

ELECTIONS 2024 Kelly Cassidy discusses reproductive health, LGBTQ+ rights ahead of March primary
2024-02-26
By Kayleigh Padar State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, running unopposed in the March 19 primary election so as to continue representing the 14th District, was first elected in 2011. During her tenure in Springfield, she has ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.