We have Dr. Omolara Thomas Uwemedimo as a guest on this week’s Race to Value! She is a healthcare social entrepreneur, board-certified pediatrician, community health equity consultant, career transition and business coach, public health researcher, and health justice advocate. She is currently the CEO and Co-Founder of Strong Children Wellness, a multi-award winning healthcare practice in New York City, providing integrated, physical, mental, and social health services for low-income communities of color.
Back in 2019, Omolara lost her ability to walk. She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a chronic autoimmune condition. During her recovery, she became a staunch wellness advocate for women of color who in healthcare often experience disproportionally higher rates of chronic disease due to weathering – the deterioration of one’s health due to medical racism and toxic environmental stress in the workplace and in society.  In response, she founded “Melanin and Medicine”, a community health equity consulting and social entrepreneurship company that helps women of color thrive by building purposeful careers within healthcare enterprises.  She also has a weekly podcast called “Funding Your Healthcare Vision” that helps visionary leaders of health centers & practices to secure grants, contracts and other funding to strengthen, scale & sustain their vision, mission & impact to support under-resourced communities of color.
With her leadership insights, you too can break the barriers to health justice by building a healthcare social enterprise built on CBO partnerships and social impact innovation!
Episode Bookmarks:
01:30 Introduction to Dr. Omolara Thomas Uwemedimo (CEO and Co-Founder of Strong Children Wellness, founder of Melanin and Medicine, and host of Funding Your Healthcare Vision).
04:00 The intersection of Social Entrepreneurialism and Value-Based Care, where private profit creates public good.
06:30 The difference between “health equity” and “health justice”.
07:00 Creating health justice for a psychosocially complex Medicaid patient population dealing with social and mental health challenges.
07:30 Working with grant partners and Community Benefit Organizations (CBOs).
08:30 Closing the loop between physical health and social determinants of health (SDOH).
09:00 Overcoming a flawed business model by moving physical health care delivery into the CBO setting.
09:30 Aligning the public health interest in patient outcomes with economic incentives.
09:45 How healthcare capitation (PMPM reimbursement) merges with philanthropy dollars to drive holistic care delivery.
10:00 “The collective impact of capitation and philanthropy is the precipice of an integration model that makes an impact with payers and patients.”
11:00 The majority of healthcare organizations are not conducting place-based interventions to improve health equity and create health justice.
12:30 The fatigue of healthcare providers dealing with under-resourced communities.
13:30 Starting with the patient first by addressing the referral process in addressing social health needs.
14:00 Developing a social navigation workforce as a baseline to deliver primary care to Medicaid populations.
15:00 Funding a healthcare social enterprise through embedded CBO partnerships (“reverse integration”).
16:00 “We thought we were dealing with psychosocially complex patients until we integrated our care model with CBOs.  This in where the impact can be made in VBC.”
16:30 Identifying the right community organizations (e.g. homeless shelters) in creating a holistic care model.
17:30 Securing over $2 million in grant funding within a community health network and working with other BIPOC, women-led healthcare practices to create sustainable health justice.
19:45 “Human social organizations are an essential leader in health.  We must think beyond the delivery of care when building a mission-driven healthcare social enterprise.”

Ver todos los episodios