Member Participates in White House Healthcare Reform Summit

Among 50 physicians, nationwide, joining president's crusade

Member Persharon Dixon was one of 50 doctors from all over the country chosen as special guests of President Obama at an event held in the White House Rose Garden. These physicians represented the more than 500,000 nationwide in favor of and working in their communities for health reform.

Doctors for America representatives at White House summit

Dixon stood with practicing physicians from around the nation who took their message to Capitol Hill under the Doctors for America movement. This crusade, which began nearly 18 months ago, is a grassroots group of more than 15,000 physicians in 50 states, committed to passing meaningful health reform legislation. The White House asked Doctors for America to identify one doctor from each state who has been active in addressing the health reform agenda. Dixon was chosen to represent Mississippi.

"When I received the phone call about going to Washington, D.C. to participate in this important event, I felt fortunate and privileged," Dixon said. "While many doctors have differing views about how to implement a healthcare reform plan now, most all understand that health reform needs to happen-this year."

Dixon, like many of America's doctors, believes reform is imperative to ensure a better system for her profession and for patients. She often shares firsthand accounts about working with patients and family members whose stories have sparked her personal involvement in the campaign for health reform.

"As a pediatrician, my focus is on children, and I know that good health directly impacts their ability to function and learn at school, which ultimately impacts their productivity as adult citizens," she said. "I witnessed the struggles that families and providers faced after Hurricane Katrina because of our impaired healthcare system. It inspired me to attend an MBA program for physicians, to garner the business acumen I felt I needed to fully expand my role in the reform of healthcare."

She continued, "Families like those served by women of Alpha Kappa Alpha have a lot at stake in this paramount issue. In the final analysis, we should all want CARE." She defined the acronym as: C - Comprehensive care and Coverage for all; A - Accessibility and Affordability; R - Reform of our delivery system; and E - Expansion of the work force to accommodate the newly-insured.

"The current bill is leaning toward accomplishing these goals," she said.

Dr. Dixon in the White House Pink and Green room

A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha for 25 years, Dixon is a member of the Gulfport, MS (Upsilon Chi) Chapter. She resides in Biloxi, MS with her husband and three children. She is "Connection" Chairman, which she said has made her more politically aware and active.

Dixon earned a B.S. in chemistry from Berry College and went on to earn her M.D. from the Morehouse School of Medicine, completing her residency in pediatrics through the Emory University Hospital Systems. In 2007, she received her MBA from the Physician Executive MBA program at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

Since August 2006, Dixon has served as medical director of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Children's Health Project, a long-term project based in Biloxi and supported by the Children's Health Fund (CHF) in partnership with the Coastal Family Health Center. She came to the attention of CHF principals who were seeking a special brand of doctor to head the Project. Inspired by her energy and commitment, she was recruited to direct the Project, which is billed as an innovative program offering healthcare access to children who were victims of Hurricane Katrina.

As medical director, she's in command of a state-of-the-art mobile unit that provides medical, mental and community services to families along the entire Gulf Coast. In addition to her supervisory role, she serves as a hands-on clinician in the unit. As an advocate, she's been called by organizations such as the Children's Defense Fund and the CHF to voice the healthcare concerns of Gulf Coast children to local and national legislators.

"The honor of participating in this event will stay with me forever, yet it pales in comparison to the fulfillment of fully engaging in the civil rights issues of our time-healthcare equality for all," she said.