2008 Honorary Degree
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - |
For nearly 40 years, Dr. Stovall provided healthcare to a portion of the city that had been previously underserved. He often accepted "gifts-in-kind"(such as a sweet potato pie or a bushel of collard greens) from people who had no insurance or no money. He also helped to open a medical center that offers healthcare and houses a full-service pharmacy.
Born in Alabama, Dr. Stovall moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., as a child and attended Purdue University for his undergraduate degree before going Fisk and Howard universities for his medical degrees. After graduating from Howard University, Stovall was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in the MASH units in Vietnam.
After serving in the Vietnam War, Dr. Stovall returned to Fort Wayne, where he opened his private medical practice as a family physician on the south side of the city. About 20 years later, Dr. Stovall joined with Dr. Jeffrey Towles to open the Lafayette Medical Center in 1993, while continuing to work for his private practice.
In 2003, he established the Dr. Jeffrey Towles Health Disparity Initiative, a not-for-profit organization named for his late friend and partner who helped him open the Lafayette Medical Center. The mission of the initiative is to advocate for case management for minority individuals who have chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes and cancer.
In addition, Dr. Stovall has remained very involved with Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, collaborating with the university to help provide better learning opportunities for students in the medical, nursing and dental hygiene programs. He helped bring the Northeast Indiana Area Health Education center to Fort Wayne, which tries to recruit minority individuals into healthcare professions. He also provided space in the Lafayette Medical Building to the medical center at a lower cost.
He provided support for IPFW by leasing space in the Lafayette Medical Center for the nurse-managed Lafayette Street Family Health Clinic, a clinic that was established in 2007 to provide services mainly to women of the community.
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