Is ideal medical care defined by experts, politicians, or physicians? None of the above.
I was trained in family & community medicine to care not only for the physical health of an individual but the social, emotional, spiritual, and cultural well-being of the patient, family ~ and community. Impossible in a ten-minute visit. Health care feels like a competitive sport. Who can see the most patients. Who has the biggest, fanciest hospitals. At 36, I quit medicine.
Then came my epiphany: Put patients in charge.
I thought, “Why wait for legislation, another election? I’m a board-certified physician. What’s stopping me from serving the public?
So I held a town hall meeting and invited ordinary citizens to do the extraordinary ~ create the clinic of their dreams. Celebrated since 2005, our pioneering model has sparked a populist movement that has inspired Americans to create ideal clinics and hospitals nationwide.
