b'philanthropy A drive to help others started in childhoodWhen Dr. Keith Leaphart was growingfrom age 5. I needed to find a path outOsteopathic Medicine and a business up in the West Oak Lane section ofof poverty and I also needed to be in adegree at St. Josephs University. Philadelphia, he wanted to make hisposition to help people, he says. AndWhile Dr. Leaphart was in medical neighborhood a better place andmedicine is a healing profession. Youschool, he started a commercial create more opportunities for Blackgo into medicine because you wantcleaning company. He met the late youth like himself.people to feel better and you want toGerry Lenfest, who was a billionaire He lived in a single-parent homemake society better. And I knew it wasand philanthropist, while cleaning Mr. with his mother and his sister. Wesomething that would make my motherLenfests Suburban Cable Co. office. struggled very early on just for basicextremely proud. The chance meeting led to Mr. Lenfest necessities and food, he says. He graduated from Central Highbecoming his mentor, friend, and School and then attended Hamptonbusiness partner. Those struggles led to a lifelongUniversity, a historically Black college commitment to helping others. Now Dr. Leaphart serves as chairman in Virginia. of the board of the Lenfest Foundation. The thing I most wanted to change I still had a bit of a rough exteriorThe foundation works to help was to find ways for young peoplewhen I went to Hampton, he says.disadvantaged and under-served youth like myself to have access to moreHe was suspended for a semester forin the Philadelphia area.opportunities, Dr. Leaphart says. Itgetting into a fight. He thought that He [Gerry Lenfest] was like a Santa wasnt necessarily that people werenthis suspension might keep him outwho carried a sack of opportunities smart enough to succeed. It was justof medical school despite excellentwith him, Dr. Leaphart says. He was that we werent presented with thegrades. Thankfully, things happen,someone who empowered me, and I right opportunities. he says. He earned his medicalam forever grateful to him for giving He knew he wanted to be a doctordegree at the Philadelphia College ofme that opportunity. By Healthy Trailblazer Journal staffJefferson physician works for health access for allDr. Keith Leaphart is achieving atreated fairly, that youre treatedhealthy foods, our housing conditions, childhood goal: to make society better. equitably, that you know Jefferson is athe stresses that we live with. Dr. He learned as a child that many peopleplace that cares, he says. Jefferson hasLeaphart says these factors are called he knew didnt have an easy time17 hospitals, more than 50 outpatientthe social determinants of health.getting health care. I wanted to figuresites, and five urgent care centers. out ways for me to make a differenceTo Dr. Leaphart, health care is moreJeffersons mission is to improve to help these people, he says. than a trip to the doctors office orlives, he says. Improving lives is He now works at Jefferson ashospital to treat a medical problem.really something that is broad, but also enterprise executive vice president. Theres a lot of stuff that happensspecific. Were going to be investing In his role, he is working to improveoutside the walls of the hospital,deeply in the community.community health throughout thehe says. They say around 20 to 30 Philadelphia region. My goalis topercent of ones health is your accessHe says he really jumped at the make sure that Jefferson is a placeto health care or your genetics. Theopportunity [at Jefferson] because I where everyone who walks in the doorother 70 percent are the things thatthought I could make a difference. feels like they belong there, that youreare in our environment, our access tofor a lot of people."By Healthy Trailblazer Journal staffS p r i n g 2 0 2 4 | H E A L T H Y N E W S W O R K S . O R G5'