Excerpt

Dr. David Dhanraj, Wright State Physician’s Chief Medical Officer, has spent the entirety of his practicing career in the state of Ohio.

“The OB/GYN Department and Wright State Physicians could not ask for a better person/physician to continue moving the corporation forward in these fast-paced, crazy times,” a staff member of Dr. Dhanraj’s team said.

He has been living in the Dayton region since 2008, practicing both in Cincinnati and Dayton, allowing him to gain a true grasp of the medical problems facing Ohioans.

“It’s really overwhelming, but it’s also reaffirming that we’re on the right track of what we’re trying to do to improve the care for our patients throughout the community,” Dr. Dhanraj said about what this award means.

A big focus for Dr. Dhanraj has been to bring a lot of different working parties together while maintaining a focus on their patients, which he believes he’s begun to do.

While only in his current role in Dayton for two and a half years, Dr. Dhanraj has seen his team’s work bring people together although admitting, “there’s a lot left to do.”

Furthermore, he has also been advocating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) for the Dayton healthcare community as the co-leader of Boonshoft School of Medicine’s DE&I Task Force. During his time in Cincinnati, he decreased the rate of infant mortality in a predominantly minority neighborhood as part of his DE&I patient-focused care, he said.

“The place is segregated, there’s structural things built in the system to keep people separated,” Dr. Dhanraj said on his views of DE&I in healthcare.

Not only does some of Dr. Dhanraj’s ‘why’ come from his family but some of his DE&I motivation as well, as he experienced discrimination in a first-generation family growing up. His department is also conducting research on the awareness of racial bias in healthcare.

“I feel Dr. Dhanraj truly listens to any issues I might be having or am concerned about,” a patient of Dr. Dhanraj said. “He is the first male OB/GYN I’ve had, which was anxiety-inducing at first, but I am very thankful to have him as my primary gynecologist now.”

Dr. Dhanraj is also focused on developing future healthcare providers as he is providing training, teaching and leadership to OB/GYM residents to be the healthcare providers of tomorrow. He was also recently recognized as one of Dayton Magazine’s Dayton Best Docs 2022.