Sentara Healthcare hires medical director of health equity

Sentara Healthcare has hired Dr. Keith H. Newby as an independent contractor to serve as the system’s medical director of health equity. He will work on expanding plans and initiatives that improve access to health care in underserved neighborhoods, as well as on plans that promote higher COVID-19 vaccination rates among populations with lower inoculation rates and encourage better overall health through community initiatives and education.

Newby, a cardiologist, has partnered with Sentara before, serving as the face and voice of some of the system’s campaigns to promote COVID-19 vaccinations.

Newby holds a certification in cardiovascular disease from the American Board of Internal Medicine. An Eastern Virginia Medical School graduate, Newby performed his internship at the Emory University School of Medicine. His residency was with the Emory University Hospital, and his fellowship was at the Duke University Medical Center.

Newby founded the James. E. Newby Jr. M.D. Foundation in memory of his father, a former chief of medicine at Norfolk Community Hospital and the first Black board-certified internist to obtain privileges at what is now Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

About his new position, Newby said: “My father passed on a strong sense of community involvement to his children, so I am excited to work with Sentara as medical director of health equity. Together, we will address concerns such as diabetes, heart disease and hypertension, chronic kidney disease, infant mortality and low birth in our community.”

Sentara has 12 hospital locations in Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. The health system employs more than 1,200 physicians and 30,000 people who serve in other roles. Sentara’s Optima Health Plan and Virginia Health Plan serve 850,000 members in Virginia, North Carolina and Ohio.