CHOP Primary Care is providing patients with doctors who look like them
Ciana Hayes Maxwell grew up going to CHOP Primary for routine medical appointments, but couldn't recall if any of the doctors looked like her.
Now, the facility that has been serving the Burlington area for over 25 years is a place Maxwell — herself a doctor at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia's Primary Care office in Burlington — takes her own children.
"People are looking for representation ... for people that look like their kids," she said. "I wanted my children to see somebody doing something good for the community that looked like them."
The unordinary prevalence of Black practitioners at the location is one that Maxwell and Dr. Lovelle McFadden-Parsi said they see impacting the community they serve, specifically a demographic that is more than familiar with not always having access to Black doctors.
"We reflect the area that we're in. ... When patients come into the practice, they're guaranteed to see someone who looks like them," McFadden-Parsi said. "There are patients who are looking for us, and there are patients who will come in and tell me that they've been Googling, trying to find a Black physician."
Only 5.2% of active physicians identified Black or African American in 2022 according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
And an even smaller percentage represents Black female physicians.
McFadden-Parsi of the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia's Primary Care office in Burlington says her office is an "anomaly."
Four of the seven practitioners at the Salem Road location are Black, and the entire staff is female, a combination of demographics that McFadden-Parsi says not only strengthens relationships between doctors and patients but also creates a welcoming work environment for the team.
"Having coworkers that understand that we are all trying to balance this motherhood, physician, wife life, I think, just makes it feel just so much more supportive here," McFadden-Parsi said.
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Some Black patients share a certain familiarity of having their pain dismissed, something McFadden-Parsi said she'd experienced herself when dealing with chronic pain and being treated in the emergency room as a "drug seeking patient."
A 2021 survey from the Pew Research Center found that while Black adult patients offered positive ratings on their general quality of care, 40% of those surveyed said they'd had to speak up to receive proper care, and 35% said they felt their pain wasn't taken seriously.
"I understand where the patients are coming from. ...I understand historically where that mistrust comes from," McFadden-Parsi said, further explaining that these experiences have allowed her to listen to her patients in a non-judgmental way and have also contributed to a more culturally aware practice.
What the team at CHOP Primary Care wants the community to know, they said, is that they're there.
"We're here to serve them and we're looking forward to working with even more of them," McFadden-Parsi said.
Kaitlyn McCormick writes about trending issues and community news across South Jersey for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and the Burlington County Times. If you have a story she should tell, email her at kmccormick@gannett.com. And subscribe to stay up to date on the news you need.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Doctor says CHOP Primary Care team is an 'anomaly," what this means
