Story by by Alexis Yeboah
ODAM MEDICAL GROUP
Odam Medical Group practices community care for communities that too often go without — the gray spaces, the medically underserved, those who have been left behind and forgotten by the medical field. At Odam Medical Group, Dr. Larbi Odam and his wife Abena work to lessen the cultural barriers to care, bringing health equity from vision to practice.
Minnesota is one of the country’s healthiest states, but has glaring health disparities between white and Black or immigrant communities — disparities that show up far too often in the North Minneapolis neighborhoods Odam Medical group serves. Through a layered, patient-first approach, Odam Medical Group strives to deliver the high-quality, comprehensive health care that every community deserves.
Meeting that goal means working to remove obstacles to care. Odam Medical Group employs community health workers to ensure patients have transportation to their appointments. Their multilingual staff makes sure language isn’t a barrier for the many residents for whom English isn’t a first language. And most of the clinic staff live in close proximity to the areas served.
“I want people from the neighborhood to be trained to work in the neighborhood,” says Abena. “That is the only thing that will save us.”
The Odams often pay for community members to complete their medical assistant education, putting into action their focus on health equity not only for patients, but also creating a pipeline for more diverse providers. All of this in tandem weaves a beautiful community tapestry, bringing economic stability to families and individuals by increasing their educational attainment, and ensuring the staff with the most patient interactions have the skills to serve.
Equity is embedded in every aspect of care, including how visits are scheduled. Extended evening hours make time for the patients that standard clinics often miss. “Many of our patients are shift workers and can’t take time off during the day,” says Abena. The clinic also offers family visit scheduling, blocking off multiple hours for all family members to come in and be seen in one clinic appointment.
The Odams have a clear vision of the future they’re planning for their work. In the short term, they’re seeking community support for the resources to hire a bilingual OB/GYN. And in the long term? Abena and Larbi want to help their neighbors find ways to grow their community together, building and tending to a model of care that can be sustainable and repeatable.
