We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dr. Omolara Thomas-Uwemedimo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dr. Omolara below.
Dr. Omolara, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.
In 2019, I co-founded Strong Children Wellness, a multi-award winning, healthcare practice network in NYC, providing integrated physical health, mental health and social services for minoritized, low-income children and families. Strong Children Wellness bridges gaps in care by integrating primary health care into trusted community-based organizations expert at addressing mental health and social needs. To be the change that we wanted to see in healthcare, we recognized that we needed to work in close partnership with community based organizations to wrap care and support around families who need it most. Building our expanded, multidisciplinary care team of pediatricians, adult providers, care managers, family navigators, child development specialists, and mental health providers was a necessary so that we could all work together to address health-related social needs and ensure that families have the resources they need to thrive. The biggest challenge is getting the funding you need to support a thriving team without bootstrapping. Early in my practice I was able to tap into the best framework for acquiring contracts and funding a sustainable healthcare practice.
Dr. Omolara, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Dr. Omolara Thomas Uwemedimo is a healthcare social entrepreneur, board certified pediatrician, community health equity consultant, social enterprise funding coach, public health researcher & health justice advocate. As a board certified pediatrician, Dr. Uwemedimo has been a staunch advocate for culturally-responsive healthcare, stemming from her work as a clinician for almost 2 decades in low-income communities in the US and internationally, in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. In less than 10 years, she has been awarded over $2.5 million in grant funding and social impact investments to implement community-based health equity programs focused on evaluating novel approaches that link healthcare facilities to the community to improve health outcomes, with a specific focus on integrating clinical care and social services.
In addition to being the CEO & lead consultant at Social Health Rising, her community health equity consulting firm, she is also a co-founder and CEO of Strong Children Wellness (SCW). SCW is a multi-award winning, integrated family practice network committed to community-centered and socially-responsive care for marginalized children, families and communities. SCW supports community-based behavioral, social-service and child welfare organizations to build integrated physical healthcare delivery models to ensure comprehensive care that addresses medical, behavioral, and social needs for children & families. Given her success in building community-informed, healthcare enterprises, she founded Melanin & Medicine and works as a funding & business development consultant for women of color entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders, teaching them how to fund and build enterprises for health justice in underserved communities.
Have you ever had to pivot?
My career shift in 2019 was prompted by a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, a chronic, autoimmune brain disorder and suddenly losing the ability to walk. During my recovery, I became a staunch wellness advocate for people of color in healthcare, who disproportionately experience higher rates of chronic disease due to “weathering”- the early deterioration of our health due to medical racism. In response, I’ve helped hundreds of people of color shift into social entrepreneurship as an alternative to enduring toxic workplaces and thrive instead of just survive. Given my success in building community-informed, healthcare enterprises, I founded Melanin & Medicine and work as a funding & business development consultant for men & women of color entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders, teaching them how to fund and build enterprises for health justice in underserved communities.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
As the daughter of Nigerian immigrants, Dr. Uwemedimo has remained passionate in her advocacy for improved health & social care for marginalized children and families, especially immigrant families. She has served on the steering committee member of the New York State American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Immigration Committee and has worked with advocacy groups such as the New York Immigration Coalition. She has also been an invited speaker for a number of advocacy groups and health organizations including SXSW, Center for Law and Social Policy, Immigration Advocates Network, United Hospital Fund, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Women’s Medical Association and the Greater NY Hospital Association and more.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://melaninandmedicine.co/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melaninmedicineco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melaninmedicineco
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dromolara/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/melaninmedco
- Other: https://linktr.ee/dr.omolara