Page 10 - Florida Sentinel 9-17-21

Feature
Internal Medicine Physician Focuses On Holistic Approach
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Staff Writer
Dr. Traci Thompson
was born and raised in Mont- gomery County, Maryland. After graduating from local schools, she continued her education at Georgetown University. She then went to the distinguished Johns Hopkins University for med- ical school. She made Tampa her home in July 2010.
She started her career as an attending physician, later as a hospitalist. Hospitalists are physicians who have ded- icated their careers to hospi- talized patients.
In 2010, Dr. Traci (as she is known to her patients) left the practice of medicine to work in managed care. It was then that she moved to Tampa.
Her company was sold and Dr. Traci’s position was eliminated. It was then that she decided what her next step in medicine would be.
After much thought, Dr. Traci’s House was born. She wanted to share all the experience she gathered at her other positions to create a space to serve the commu- nity. She had worked with
Dr. Traci Thompson and her new office, Dr. Traci’s House in East Tampa opened this month.
the National Quality Forum on healthcare disparities. This work aims to eliminate inadequate resources, poor patient-provider communi- cation, a lack of culturally competent care, and inade- quate linguistic access, among other factors.
One of the most impor- tant factors was having her medical practice be accessi- ble to the community, so Dr. Traci chose 904 East Henry Avenue, Tampa, 33604.
She also founded Dr. Traci’s House, Inc. which is a non-profit 501c(3) organiza- tion that works to promote “holistic health and sustain- ability in, and for local com- munities by providing sustainable and high-quality programming that preserves
cultural identity and leads to better health and better com- munities.”
Dr. Traci’s House
seeks to provide holistic services needed within a zip code, including medical, be- havioral health, social and community services, adult education, career develop- ment, and early education in- tervention among others.
Dr. Traci stresses, “It is really important to be in the same zip code as the clients you service. Also, we need to service the community in ways they need, such as more flexible hours.”
After researching the needs assessments from sev- eral hospitals and discover- ing that the areas needing the most help were in East
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Tampa. She also connected with other community health providers across the country to share data.
Dr. Traci continues to work hard on the model of community medicine and the sharing of information be- tween facilities like hers.
In the future, Dr. Traci sees her medical practice as a community health campus, where there are connected services, including day care and nutritional service.
As COVID continues, Dr. Traci’s House will continue to hold socially distanced events.
Dr. Traci also started a new job on Monday, Septem- ber 13, 2021. She will be the Regional Vice-President for Healthy Horizons (Florida Medicaid) for Humana Healthcare.
The mother of two, Dr. Traci enjoys spending time with her children Rufus and Rhadi Ferguson.
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