CHARLOTTE — A beloved, longtime Charlotte doctor and advocate is being remembered and celebrated for helping save the lives of the community she served and adored.
Dr. Ophelia Garmon-Brown passed away after a battle with cancer. She was trailblazer in her field becoming the first African American female resident in family medicine in Charlotte. In 2000, she co-founded Charlotte Community Health Clinic, a free clinic serving the poor and under-insured. She also served as Senior Vice President of Community Wellness and Education at Novant Health.
“She was a woman of grace and excellence. As a doctor, her bedside manner was just excellent. You could talk to her, and she would listen,” says Barbara Ratliff, friend and former patient.
Dr. Garmon-Brown also traveled the globe as a medical missionary. She even opened a health clinic in Kenya. She’s survived by her children and grandchildren.
Novant Health today issued the following statement on the passing of Dr. Ophelia Garmon-Brown:
“Yesterday, a dearly beloved member of the Novant Health family, Dr. Ophelia Garmon-Brown, passed away after a long and valiant battle with cancer. She is mourned by a community that she left better than she found it. Dr. Garmon-Brown was a voice for the voiceless and a tireless advocate for what is just and right.
She is mourned by patients who are healthier and stronger because of her work. Dr. Garmon-Brown was first and foremost a healer, and a trailblazer, as the first female, African American family medicine resident in Charlotte.”