Honoring Black Healthcare Changemakers
Co-authored by: Debbie Kirkendahl, Vice President, Enterprise Sales, and Lelandra Randle, Talent Acquisition Specialist, both of Transcarent
We’re grateful for people who are inspired to change the world for the better, especially in healthcare. Changemakers are essential forward-thinking leaders who challenge the status quo, create momentum, and inspire others to take action. Diverse backgrounds and perspectives are necessary to drive meaningful, lasting transformation.
This Black History Month, we celebrate Black changemakers in healthcare and are excited to shine a light on six remarkable innovators, past and present, whose work has resulted in better healthcare for their communities and for all of us. These pioneering doctors broke racial and gender barriers, developed revolutionary surgeries and vaccines that changed the practice of medicine, and took big risks to reshape the health and future of their communities. They are changemakers whose drive and passion allowed them to truly transform the status quo and people’s expectations about good health. Their vision and determination have helped to shape the future, proving that one person can make a significant impact on many. Join us in taking a moment to celebrate Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, Dr. Jocelyn Elders, as well as brothers Dr. Milton Ochieng' and Dr. Fred Ochieng'.
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams (1856–1931) was a pioneering Black surgeon best known for performing the first successful heart surgery and for his role in advancing medical opportunities for Black healthcare professionals. In Chicago, Illinois, Williams established Provident Hospital, the first Black-owned and operated hospital in the U.S. Dr. Williams became the first Black member of the American College of Surgeons (1913), an elite organization dedicated to advancing surgical knowledge.
Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1831–1895) is recognized for breaking racial and gender barriers as the first Black woman physician in the U.S., earning her M.D. in 1864. During her career, Dr. Crumpler focused on treating freed slaves and wrote A Book of Medical Discourses, one of the first medical texts by a Black author. An early public health advocate, she was passionate about treating women and children with an emphasis on preventive medicine and the importance of maintaining public health.
Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett is a viral immunologist and a lead scientist in the development of the COVID-19 vaccine. As a top researcher at the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health, her research focused on stabilizing the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which made the mRNA vaccine highly effective. Dr. Corbett is an Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Freeman Hrabowski Scholar. She has earned many prestigious recognitions including being named to TIME’s 2021 Heroes of the Year list and was featured in Nature’s 10: Ten People Who Shaped Science in 2021.
Dr. Jocelyn Elders is a pediatrician and public health administrator recognized as one of the most influential public health voices in recent history. She joined the Army after college in 1956 and went on to medical school, where she was required to eat in a separate dining room with the cleaning staff, away from her classmates. Within five years, she became the chief resident at the University of Arkansas. In 1978, Dr. Elders became the first person in the state of Arkansas to become board certified in pediatric endocrinology. As the first Black U.S. Surgeon General and only the second women to hold the position, Dr. Elders brought public health issues to the forefront, nearly doubling childhood immunizations, expanding prenatal care programs, and increasing home-care options for the chronically or terminally ill.
Dr. Milton Ochieng' and Dr. Fred Ochieng' are brothers from Lwala, a village in western Kenya, who are transforming rural healthcare in their home country by improving access to more people. Driven by the belief that when communities lead, health outcomes improve, they co-founded the Lwala Community Alliance and established Lwala Community Hospital to honor their parents, who died of AIDS. They are advancing community-led health by helping communities unlock their potential to advance their own comprehensive well-being and to revolutionize health systems. Partnering with the Ministry of Health, the Drs. Ochieng' are helping to connect millions of people across Kenya to better healthcare through evidence-based solutions, policy change, and community-led health modules.
For their efforts they have received the ABC Persons of the Week by ABC World News, United States Peace Corps Director’s Award, the National Medical Association Living Legends Award, the Dartmouth College Martin Luther King Social Justice Award for Emerging Leadership, and the Vanderbilt University Alumni Public Service Award.
Dr. Milton Ochieng' is a gastroenterologist practicing in O'Fallon, Missouri and Dr. Fred Ochieng' is a cardiologist based in O'Fallon, Illinois.
