Dr. Dominique Corti
She was born on Nov 17, 1962, in Lacor Hospital (Gulu, Uganda), where she attended the local primary school. In 1972, at the age of 10, because of the destabilization of the situation in Uganda, she was sent to school in Italy. She returned to Uganda once a year for holidays. From 1975 to 1979, she attended Green Acres Secondary School (Limuru, Kenya). She returned home to Lacor Hospital for holidays every three months. She achieved the London O Level “General Certificate of Education Examination” in 1979. In 1979/1980, she returned to Italy, attended the International School of Milan, and took the London A Level “General Certificate of Education Examination” in 1981. She attended the Medical Faculty of the State University of Milan, where she achieved her degree in 1998 cum laude, with a thesis on “Modern thoracoscopic approach to lung cancer: staging and treatment.” During her stay in Italy, she continued to help with logistic support at Lacor Hospital. After her medical degree, she took up full-time activity for the Piero and Lucille Corti Foundation in Milan (Italy), a non-profit organization created by her parents to support “their” Lacor Hospital. Since 2006, she has been a Board Member of the sister foundation Teasdale Corti Foundation in Montreal (Canada).
She is fluent in Acholi, Italian, English and French.
She was awarded “Cavaliere dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana” by the President of the Italian Republic in June 2002; the Paul Harris by the Rotary Club International in March 2004; and the Peace Prize by Regione Lombardia in January 2010. She was a Board Member of IDRC (International Development Research Centre), a Canadian Crown Corporation located in Ottawa, Canada, from 2016 to 2019.
She has a good knowledge of issues regarding developing countries, especially in the health sector. She has been invited to speak of Lacor Hospital and related issues in many meetings and media events.
The support that the two organizations she is responsible for give to Lacor Hospital is focused, since their inception, on budget support. Over 70% of funds are transferred to the hospital for supporting its running costs, thereby anticipating the current SDG indications regarding local ownership of priorities, long term support and local empowerment. This focus on local empowerment ensures that Lacor Hospital can continue to grow and thrive. The support aims at:
Helping the Hospital to keep its fees as low as possible so that a mostly poor or very poor population can pay for their health care needs without facing “catastrophic health care expenditures” (which are among the major causes of falling into poverty in poor countries)
To ensure that women and children, who are the most vulnerable sections of the population, continue to receive the largest share of services provided by the Hospital
To contribute to the institutional strengthening of Lacor Hospital by recognizing its ample operational and decisional autonomy in the achievement of its mission to offer health care for all, including women, children, the poor, and those affected by chronic diseases.ssion anecdotes from the weekly publication "Il Risveglio Popolare."