Tubman Health: A New Era of Medicine by the People, for the People

by Sarah Goh

In 2011, Danisha Jefferson-Abye planned to have her baby by cesarean section. She attended all her prenatal care visits and knew she had an atypical uterus with a large fibroid blocking her cervix and interfering with her ability to give birth vaginally.

When she went into labor, Jefferson-Abye warned the doctor on call. She was ignored.

"They knew what they were doing and did not look at the ultrasound I specifically requested," she said. "They went in and butchered me; I lost far too much blood and almost died."

Jefferson-Abye's story is not unique. Medical racism and disparities in how BIPOC people have received care has continued to plague the health care system. "I don't think you'll talk to a Black or Native person who doesn't have a health care horror story," she said.

Her story — and many others like hers — led Jefferson-Abye to become the founder and now COO of The Tubman Center for Health & Freedom, also known as Tubman Health.

Launched in 2020, Tubman Health is a South Seattle-based nonprofit that's transforming health care by tearing out its roots of injustice and envisioning a new system.

"It's a community health center that focuses not only on addressing the acute medical needs of our marginalized community members," Jefferson-Abye said, "but also addresses the systems that make them unwell in the first place."

Tubman Health is multipronged, with different divisions for research, policy, and clinical medicine. In addition, the organization is truly unique in its principles of growing from the community — by the people, for the people.

The organization began by sourcing ideas from community members, with many of its founders being organizers themselves as well as South Seattle natives. As a result, the first $25,000 raised for the center was from community members. The board wanted to establish who Tubman Health truly belonged to, Jefferson-Abye said.

"The people are the ones who own Tubman Health," Jefferson-Abye said. "The people are the ones who direct the work of Tubman Health."

Known for its population diversity, South Seattle has long been home to many BIPOC and immigrant communities. As a result, health care in South Seattle needs to look different, Tubman Health Board Member Dr. Ben Danielson says.

Health care does not just exist within the walls of a hospital; it starts within the community itself. Cultural and systemic differences need to be addressed. After working as a physician in South Seattle, Dr. Danielson says he had to relearn much of what he was taught in school.

"It took a grandmother or two to teach me that 12-year-olds who are Black and who are trying to survive in this country get essential hypertension from that stress," Dr. Danielson said, "something a medical school would have never taught me."

He recalls from his own childhood how his mother dressed the family up in their Sunday best clothes to see their physician, hoping that they would be treated even half as well as white families.

"Growing up in a health care system and training in spaces where you had to swallow yourself in order to survive, you had to be something other," Dr. Danielson said. "Over time, your expectations become different."

At Tubman Health, the community will be encouraged to have an unapologetic expectation of something different, he says. The Tubman way removes all sense of hyper-scrutiny and judgment that BIPOC people routinely face in health care.

"By the Tubman way, you get to show up as a part of a community and have a sense of belonging" Dr. Danielson said. "You get to walk through doors and see people who look like you — probably people who actually know you, who are not just wondering what your vital signs are, but about how your auntie is doing."

The Tubman space will host experiences for times when patients need something other than traditional allopathic care. There will be a "Roots and Remedies" area for alternative medical approaches, such as acupuncture and massage, a hydrotherapy spa, and even spaces dedicated to building community with others.

"You're not supposed to get in and out as fast as possible to make some sort of quota for the institution," Dr. Danielson said.

In 2027, Tubman Health will open its flagship center in Rainier Beach. The center will serve over 12,000 primary care patients and over 16,000 community members.

In anticipation of its center, Tubman Health currently hosts a Freedom Clinic — a school-based health center for scholars of the Rainier Valley Leadership Academy — and will soon launch its new Healing House in South Seattle. Located near Franklin High School, the Healing House will be able to provide health services in the community before the completion of the flagship center.

The Healing House will offer its full model of care while tracking patient and provider outcomes and satisfaction. Services provided include primary care, physical therapy, acupuncture, behavioral health, nutritional classes, and more. It is presently recruiting 250 community members, and interested participants can sign up here.

Jefferson-Abye says Tubman Health has been really intentional about its growth and development in South Seattle. "It's our home," she said. "It's where we grew up, where we grocery shop, and as we continue to see our people pushed further south, having a place to come home to is critical."

Jefferson-Abye mentions how places in South Seattle, like the Central District, have changed, forcing community members out and discouraging them from returning. In addition to establishing a better health care system for the community, Jefferson-Abye hopes Tubman Health can be even more.

"[Sometimes] there's no reason to go back, no place to return," she said. "[But] having a Tubman Center for Health & Freedom in the South End of Seattle will ensure that everyone has a place to come home to."

Check out the video summary below!

📸 Featured Image: Tubman Health at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day rally in Seattle. (Photo courtesy of Tubman Health)