Dr. Haydee Kort

Media Releases

Get to know Psychiatrist Dr. Haydee Kort, who served patients in Pueblo, Colorado.

Dr. Kort is a retired psychiatrist from the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo. Making history, she became the first, and still the only, woman superintendent of the Colorado State Hospital and honored as one of the top hospital administrators in the nation. 

Back in the early days of her academic career, Dr. Kort graduated with her medical degree from the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the National University of La Plata in Argentina in 1957. She and her husband, Dr. Gregorio Kort, came to America uncertain of the future, and ended up making history in the field of mental health.

Newly married, with little but $200 and their medical diplomas in hand, they left Argentina in 1957 to gain experience as resident physicians in the United States. Their first jobs exposed them to the shocking and inhumane conditions in state mental hospitals, and also to a pair of charismatic bosses committed to reform. Excited by the opportunity to bring the treatment of mental illness out of the cruel practices of the 19th century, the Korts became psychiatrists and leaders in the field of mental health. 

In December of 2018, a book was published portraying their amazing journey and extensive expertise – “ Doctor H. and Doctor G.: How a husband-and-wife team of psychiatrists came to Colorado and helped transform the field of mental health”, as told by talented writer, Jean Torkelson. It tells a story of how “Dr. H and Dr. G” turned the Colorado State Mental Hospital in Pueblo, Colorado into a nationally recognized model for re-form known for its compassionate, individualized care of the mentally ill. It is also the story of “Goyo and Beba,” two young people, deeply in love, who took on the challenges of a new country and learned to work together professionally, while never forgetting the value of family and the rule “Home by Five.” 

Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behavior, cognition, and perceptions. Psychiatrists evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients with mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. They conduct thorough psychiatric evaluations, develop treatment plans, prescribe medication, and evaluate treatment results.

Honoring her expertise, Dr. Kort received the Gil Sanchez Mission Award in 2012.

Recommended Articles

• Causes and Treatment for Gynecomastia

  What Is Gynecomastia?When boys enter adolescence, they will see a lot of hormonal changes in their body. The growth in both maternal and paternal hormones leads to changes like a growth of hair, deepening of the voice, etc. In some cases, due to excess estrogen in the body, the breast tissue in...

• Is There a Relationship Between Autism and Vaccinations?

  What the research showsSeveral studies have been carried out among children and adults to try and establish if there really is a link between the two, but the largest of them all was recently published in  the Journal of the American Medical Association.The study was conducted to establish any link...

• Everything You Need to Know About Fibromyalgia

  What is Fibromyalgia?Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain and chronic fatigue. Symptoms and severity differ depending on the individual. Individuals with fibromyalgia will often describe their pain as throbbing, stabbing, shoot, ache, or burning.Symptoms of...

• 5 Tips to Avoid Hernia

  Causes of HerniaOther than umbilical hernia, all other types of hernia occur at a later stage in life. Hernia is usually caused due to weak abdominal walls. Part of the organs tends to protrude through the weakened spot of the abdominal wall. There are various reasons due to which the abdominal...

• Are There Risks to Cryotherapy?

  Cryotherapy is a fairly new technology, and it has only been in use since 1978. It was at this time in Japan that the idea of lowering body temperature as a treatment procedure was discovered. The year 1978 seems like a long time ago for some people, but, in medical circles, it’s a very short...

• Is Lower Back Pain a Sign of Testicular Cancer?

  Testicular cancer affects the male sex organs called the testes, two oval shaped gonads located just beneath the penis, which are primarily responsible for producing male sex cells called sperm, as well as the male sex hormone called testosterone. Cancer mainly affects the germ cells, which in...