Indian origin doctor, winning recognition for her work in a small US town, through selfless service, hard work, compassion, and empathy with patients.
In 2005 in a small rural town, Cleveland in the US, with a population of just over 7600, a new clinic was being set up by Steve Racciato, CEO of a Health Centre in South East Texas, as the only hospital that was there had just closed down. The new clinic needed a medical director and practising physician. Attracting well qualified physicians to clinics in mofussil towns was difficult like how India too faces the problem of getting doctors to serve rural areas.
That was when Dr. Jasmine Sulaiman, an Indian born doctor who along with her electrical engineer husband and two children were in the process of relocating to Houston area from New York, applied for the position at the new clinic. Her interview with Racciato and the board, started with a prayer and she felt that this was it – where she needed to be. She was taken in to head the clinic. As Racciato said later, “as an associate professor of family medicine at an Ivy League affiliated medical centre, she could have her pick of virtually any primary care position in the country. However, she joined us and helped prepare the clinic for opening in 2016.” The clinics finances were uncertain at the time as federal grant funding had not started. They operated from a two room flower shop. But despite all the challenges Sulaiman took up the job as she felt helping the community in need was the right thing to do.
24×7 Attention to Patients
Dr. Sulaiman used to see about 40 patients in a day and in the first year itself she saw 4000 patients, charging $5 to patients who could afford, and nothing to those who couldn’t. As the clinic’s sole physician she remained on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As she remarked, “Though exhausting, it was actually very rewarding. I was doing exactly what I was trained to do, and in a good way.” She also sees people from towns around Cleveland too and also makes home visits, sometimes travelling 30 to 40 miles, just to see a patient who can’t be brought to or reach the clinic.
Sulaiman also works with churches and other community organisations to help provide patients with transportation to medical appointments. She also reaches out to specialists, negotiating reduced payment rates for uninsured patients.
The Centre grew rapidly and Dr. Sulaiman now operates out of a 6300 sq ft. facility with nine exam rooms. She and her team have opened additional satellite clinics and now have a total of four spread across rural counties in Texas, all in areas high in poverty and considered medically underserved with shortage of health professionals. Their Centre has now been recognised as a Federally Qualified Health Centre (FQHC) with grants and approvals for loans.
Dr. Sulaiman implemented a program that upgraded medical care at the county jail. She also got the health centre designated as Patient Centred Medical Home. In this model, patients have one point of contact that coordinates all their care. She developed an educational program to interest high school students in healthcare. She has also hired and trained her own staff.
Winning Awards
For her remarkable record of commitment and service, Dr. Sulaiman was named as the Country Doctor of the year in 2016. Presented by Staff Care, a US healthcare company, the award recognises the spirit, skill and dedication of America’s rural medical practitioners. Presenting the Award, Sean Ebner, President of Staff Care commented, “Dr. Sulaiman represents a new breed of country doctor. She combines the compassion and commitment of old school physicians with information technology and new practice paradigms of today’s doctors.”
Earlier in 2013, Dr. Sulaiman was named the Texas Family Physician of the Year by the Texas Academy of Family Practice. Of the many testimonials to her credit, nominating her for the award from fellow physicians, staff and patients, one from a physician nominator stated, “Dr. Sulaiman’s patients do not simply consider her a physician; she is a healer, counsellor, mentor and friend.”
Compassion, Caring and Empathy
One of the clinic’s current medical assistants, Lechelle Williams in her nomination letter stated that Dr Sulaiman is always willing to both laugh and cry with patients while listening to their problems. “To me you are more. You are a friend, mother, role model and a well experienced provider, thoroughly familiar with the needs and problems of others” wrote Williams.
Maggie Estrada who was one of the trio along with Dr. Sulaiman and Racciato at the Health Centre from inception says of Sulaiman, “She is a listener. She will sit with any patient, she will care. She will get real personal with patients where they can talk to her; they will open up to her.”
It’s obvious how much of a friend Sulaiman becomes to patients – both young and old alike. A 12 year old patient wrote a physician of the year nomination letter on Sulaiman’s behalf describing her as “kind, caring and loving,” adding that the doctor checks her grades and encourages the young girl to become a doctor one day. “She acts like my mother sometimes but at the end, she is the best doctor I could have.” – the little girl wrote.
In an interview to Times of India two years back she said “In my practice I focus on developing a bond with patients”.
Caring and Compassion are the two adjectives that describe Sulaiman the best. Racciato says Sulaiman’s compassion and willingness to serve make her stand out among care providers. Her face lights up when she recounts stories of her patients, her experiences as a physician, her clinic and her staff, from finding housing for a local homeless man to the time one of her staff adopted a dog found at the clinic and many such anecdotes.
To Sulaiman the definition of family physician is diagnosing patients while delivering the best care possible. She realises, however, that primary care and the medical field in general are not that simple. The complex and ever changing world of medicine needs continuous education. She invites residents to Cleveland to learn about specialty of family medicine.
“Patient education is one of my platforms since training days,” Sulaiman says. She believes patients have the right to know what is going on with their health and their knowledge is a big part of their health care plan.
Her Roots
Speaking of how her roots have helped her practice, she told TOI, “I am from Kerala, the land of Ayurveda. I embrace alternate medicine. I often have remedies and recipes to share, especially with patients who cannot afford prescription medicine for minor ailments or those who want to approach their health and well being in a holistic way.”
Hailing from North Kerala, Sulaiman oldest of three girls, took to medicine, goaded by her mother who impressed on her daughters the importance of good education for a good future. Sulaiman’s journalist father passed away when he was just 45, which was one of the reasons she took to medicine. After her medical degree from Government Medical College, Kozhikode, Sulaiman along with her electrical engineer husband relocated to the US in 1995. There at Columbia University she completed her residency in the Bassett Elizabeth Family Medicine Program. She took up a job at one of the program’s satellite clinics during the inflows of refugees from Bosnia and Kosovo. Serving them spiked her interest in working with underserved populations. From there she completed a faculty development fellowship in family medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and took part in a heath leadership program in Duke’s Department of Community and Family Medicine.
Steve Racciato commented at her award ceremony, “The day we recruited Dr Sulaiman, we got lucky, so did Cleveland, Texas. She remains committed to the facility”.
Stressing the importance of rural healthcare, what Sulaiman said is very relevant to India, “The challenges of providing rural healthcare yield great rewards. I wish more doctors would come and work in rural settings”.