Dr. Mukta Panda didn’t want to be the center of attention, yet she was during a welcome reception held recently at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center.
Dr. Panda addressed her fellow healthcare workers and community partners as the new Regional Dean for the Chattanooga Morehouse School of Medicine Campus.
Under Dr. Panda’s leadership the More in Common Alliance hopes to expand their efforts in recruiting, educating and mentoring future generations of minority healthcare professionals.
More in Common Alliance is a 10-year, $100 million initiative. It is a partnership between Morehouse School of Medicine and CHI Memorial's parent company, CommonSpirit Health. Alliance members aim to address the causes of health disparities and increase the number of clinicians from underrepresented communities and transform health equity.
“I’m deeply humbled,” Dr. Panda said. “I’m immensely grateful. I feel full and I’m not sure I can express how full I feel.”
Dr. Veronica Mallett, Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of the More in Common Alliance said this partnership is important to the community. “Morehouse School of Medicine contributes nearly 50 years of a national premiere historically black medical school with an unmatched record of graduating physicians who choose primary care and go on to serve the community that they emanate from,” she said. “And yes, we are a historically black medical school, but we are an inclusive school that recognizes that there are many communities that are underserved.”
Mallet said fewer than 7 % of the nation's physicians are African American and fewer than 6% are Latino. “These groups represent nearly one-third of the nation's population,” Mallett said. “This population has the opportunity to be cared for by someone who shares their lived experience. Someone who can relate to the challenges that they might face and who simply listens in a different way. That cultural humility to understand and to gain and guard the trust that makes them adhere to the recommendations that their physician has put forth.”
The initiative is also a boom for the City’s economy. Each resident that is trained in this program adds $250,000 to the city’s economy. As the training program expands many of the graduating physicians will likely stay in Chattanooga, work at local hospitals and contribute back to the community.
CHI Memorial Market President Janelle Reilly talked about the history of Memorial. “Memorial Hospital was founded in 1952 by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and later became part of the Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) which later became CommonSpirit Health,” she said. “The Sisters demonstrated a strong commitment to patient care and serving the community.”
The Sisters ensured an African American janitor received the best care by providing him a room on a previously segregated floor and then declared the hospital would not have segregation. That commitment to care for all continues today.
“The partnership between CHI Memorial and More House School of Medicine is a major step to help solve provider shortages through the recruitment and training of healthcare professionals that mirrors their community,” Reilly said. “This partnership will provide the community with what they need, when they need it, in the amount they need it, to achieve their maximum health. This is the truest form of health equity. Dr. Panda's leadership of this regional medical campus will demonstrate how exceptional medical education when paired with community purpose and a caring hospital can transform healthcare.”
District 28 State Representative Yusuf Hakeem said the shared mission of More in Common Alliance is to cultivate physicians who see beyond symptoms and are committed to all who seek care. “Today we celebrate, not just a new appointment, but a renewed commitment to community health engagement and fostering future generations of compassionate physicians,” he said. “The presence of leaders dedicated to addressing challenges reminds us that a commitment to a healthier community, fundamentally connects us all.”
Morehouse School of Medicine Program Manager Mark Harvey introduced Dr. Panda to the guests. “Dr. Panda is an award-winning physician,” he said. “She was most recently honored with the 2023-24 ACP Awards for her outstanding contributions for improving well-being and professional fulfillment in Internal Medicine. While this is an incredible accomplishment and recognition of professional excellence, I think it only tells half the story. I think if we allow ourselves to look deeper, we can see that this award is really an acknowledgement of the love and passion she has for others. It is an acknowledgement of her commitment to not only serving others and taking on a servant's heart but also being delivered and putting others in her community first.”
Harvey said Dr. Panda served as professor of medicine and assistant dean for well-being and medical student education at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Chattanooga. She has also been honored as a master of American College Physicians and a fellow of the Boyle College of Physicians. “Recognitions that speak to her extraordinary contributions to teaching, scholarship, and advancement of medical knowledge,” Harvey said.
Dr. Panda is the author of the award-winning “Resilient Threads: Weaving Joy and Meaning into Well-Being.” She also co-authored two books with her father “Rhythm of our Hearts,” and “Reflections of the Heart.”
“Each of these books was a labor of love,” Harvey said. “Not written for recognition or acclaim but written from a deep and abiding love of her colleagues, her patients and the generations of healers to come.”
Harvey said Dr. Panda’s proudest titles are being a mother, grandmother, daughter and friend. “In the audience today I see colleagues, friends, mentors, teachers, leaders, community partners, fellow physicians and family,” Dr. Panda said. “Many of you I have worked with in different roles, and I look forward to working with you moving forward. I’ve made some new connections. I look forward to continuing those and seeing what we can do together around this mission that we have earned. Something that is needed in our community.”
She said Chattanooga has given her opportunities to serve others and thanked her parents for instilling those values in her. “The spirit of lifting others up,” she said. “That is the spirit I grew up with and that is what I have tried to emulate and hope to continue to do that in this new role.”
She invited everyone to come together to serve Chattanoogans and create a better and more equitable and compassionate community.