MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2019
AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MIA MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS GROUP TO THE MIAMI HERALD
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EDITOR’S NOTE
4 INTRODUCING SOUTH FLORIDA’S TOP BLACK HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS OF 2019 6 CHAIRWOMAN’S REPORT By Audrey M. Edmonson 8 CAREER LEADERSHIP & DEVELOPMENT By Mary Davids
SOCIAL MEDIA
By Dr. Tracy Timberlake
10 COVER STORY Healthcare Administrator
Becomes CEO of Hospital Where He Was Born
By Janiah Adams
12 MONEY MATTERS By Joann Milord
Why aren’t there more African-American doctors? It’s an important question facing the healthcare industry. And I’m not just talking about medical doctors. Why don’t we see more Black dentists filling our cavities, Black nurses taking our blood pressure, Black psychiatrists treating our mental disorders, and Black hospital administrators calling the shots? African-American men and women made up just 6 percent of all U.S. physicians in 2008; 6.9 percent of enrolled medical students in 2013; and 7.3 percent of all medical school applicants, according to a study published last year in the journal AIMS Public Health. In this issue of Legacy magazine, we honor that talented 6 percent by introducing
you to our selection of South Florida’s Top Black Healthcare Professionals of 2019. Perhaps the driving force responsible for producing the most African-American healthcare professionals is Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Just ask some of our honorees: Community Health of South Florida V.P. Jean Pierre of Florida A&M University; Broward Health’s LaRae P. Floyd of Florida Memorial University; and Walgreens pharmacy leader Dr. Lekeshia Bush of FAMU. Bush says HBCUs are a key factor in this equation for a few reasons: Their academic programs are designed to embrace and nurture the next generation of physicians and students traditionally follow in the footsteps of family members who attended an HBCU. Bush suggests this debunks any notion that HBCUs are no longer relevant. “Are they relevant? The answer is emphatically yes because the playing field is not even and there’s so much that you will not get at other institutions like the sense of (HBCU) pride and the requirement of African-American studies,” Bush said. Some experts have even identified a correlation between Black physicians and the health of the Black community. “African-American doctors are woefully underrepresented in the physician
workforce, leading fewer African Americans to see a doctor,” said Dr. William F. Owen Jr., dean and chancellor of Ross University School of Medicine (based in Barbados with a campus in Miramar), in a press release announcing its partnership with Oakwood University in Huntsville, Ala. to create a pathway program for graduates of the HBCU to attend medical school. “This has significant negative healthcare outcomes in communities already prone to high rates of chronic diseases.” The AIMS Public Health study suggests that diversifying the medical field is a job that shouldn’t only be shouldered by HBCUs. In fact, all colleges and universities should be creating more opportunities and pipelines for aspiring Black healthcare professionals. In the words of Marian Wright Edelman, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” This is why I hope our younger readers look closely at the faces in this special healthcare issue to see exactly what they, too, can become.
Russell Motley Legacy Editor-in-Chief rm@miamediagrp.com n
14 Jackson Health CEO ‘Aggressively’ Invests in Future of Public Healthcare Network
By Denise Lothian
PROFILES IN LEADERSHIP
rowth in Local NAHSE Highlights G Need for More C-Suite Healthcare Leadership
By Kallan Louis
16 EXECUTIVE SUITE Chief Nursing Officer Sees
Challenges, Positive Strides in Healthcare Industry
By Josie Gulliksen
18 LEGACY BRIEFS
Subscribe to and view the digital version of Legacy Magazine and view additional articles at http://bitly.com/legacymagazines Facebook: Facebook.com/TheMIAMagazine • Twitter and Instagram: @TheMIAMagazine Russell Motley Editor-in-Chief
#BeInformed #BeInfluential #BlackHistoryMonth
Yanela G. McLeod Managing Editor
Shannel Escoffery Vice President
Sabrina Moss-Solomon
Dexter A. Bridgeman CEO & Founder
Designer
Member of the Black Owned Media Alliance (BOMA)
Joe Wesley Cover Photo
Rory Lee
Cover Makeup Artist
CREDO OF THE BLACK PRESS
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