Advancing health equity: Community support for small practices

In a conversation with Medical Economics at the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting 2025 in New Orleans, Earl Stewart Jr., MD, FACP, spoke about how collaboration — not scale or budget — is key to advancing health equity. He shared practical advice for smaller practices seeking to engage non-clinical stakeholders and build stronger community connections.

“I’m sure you have private practices that are doing this — probably not on a large scale — but I know of some practices in smaller towns in Georgia that are doing this,” Stewart said. “They have separate community outreach arms where they’re really investing a lot of dollars into making the community healthier.”

He stressed that visible, local engagement is powerful. “I grew up watching physicians in my hometown, Augusta, Georgia, do this — going out and speaking to churches. Churches have health fairs, they have health ministries,” he said. “Even as a resident, I would go out and participate in health fairs at local churches and community centers.”

For physicians in small or resource-limited settings, Stewart recommends starting with community events, such as “Walk with a Doc” programs, or speaking engagements through local groups like Rotary Clubs. “They may give a donation to the efforts,” he noted. “You can start there.”

He also emphasized that physicians don’t have to go it alone. “Small private practices don’t necessarily have to do it by themselves, but they can get it started, and they can recruit others to be involved in such efforts,” he said. That includes building partnerships with hospital leadership, other providers, and local organizations.

“What happens outside of the walls of our hospitals … impacts a patient’s health care more than anything,” Stewart said. “We have to be more inclined to ask, ‘Can you afford your medication? How’s your home environment? Are you employed?’ Because all of that matters.”