Today we’d like to introduce you to LaToya Cook.
Hi LaToya and Dawna, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Latoya: WOW, what a great question. The first nurse who inspired me was my grandmother, Deloris Moden. Nursing and loving on patients was her life, which left a lasting impression on me to someday become a nurse. However, I started off as a medical assistant and worked with an amazing group of nurse practitioners; Dawna Willis, Treena Jackson, and Jennifer Dewey. Working with them, I was able to see a deeper level of care and compassion regarding patient care. As a result, my husband and I would have many conversations about opening a clinic together. I always wanted to start a primary care practice that offered “a little extra love”. The extra love was not just healthcare but comprehensive care. Comprehensive care which would include providing social services, community resources, and Christian Faith Based resources interlaced in a transformational care model. A model where we would highly encourage our patients to be active in their care.
Who is LaToya Cook?
LaToya Cook, MSN, APRN, FNP-C began her nursing career after earning a BSN from Baptist College of Health Sciences in Memphis, TN. For many years, she worked as a critical care and a progressive care nurse, a staff development coordinator, and a home health supervisor. LaToya believes that she was called to change the face of healthcare, so in this effort she earned a MSN in Family Nurse Practitioner from Tennessee State University. LaToya is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner through AANP. During her Nurse practitioner career, she worked in Internal Medicine and Family Medicine. LaToya’s passion for nursing and helping others has molded her personal statement of profession, “Nursing is My Ministry.” During the COVID-19 pandemic she worked on COVID-19 units and volunteered as a COVID-19 monitor and contact tracer for the Shelby County Health Department. LaToya has a deep commitment to bridging the gaps of comprehensive and quality healthcare to underserved communities and those with disproportionate health care access. She is an active member of Innovation church in Memphis, TN. Her most important role is being a wife to Shawn Cook Sr., and a mother to their 2 children.
Dawna: I was inspired to enter nursing at an early age as well. My father purchased a set of medical encyclopedias and I loved to read them and attempt to diagnose my siblings when they developed small ailments or rashes. I eventually obtained my BSN and MSN in nursing from Memphis’ own UT Health Science Center in 1995 and 2001. Prior to UT, I obtained a BA in Psychology from Christian Brothers University. I originally wanted to do Psychiatric Nursing, thus the degree in Psychology first. However, I ended up falling in love with women’s health and worked for many years in the OB/GYN Department at UT Medical Group before moving to other health areas. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed working in family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, home health, retail health, and occupational health. I am a techie at heart and outside of work I served on nursing informatics committees and trained new nurses. I am a member of Cummings Street MBC and have worked with the Health Ministry to promote health and establish fitness classes for fellow members and the greater community. I am a member of the Tennessee Nurses Association and the Greater Memphis Area of Advanced Nurse Practitioners. I love to establish relationships with my patients to help them improve their overall health and I understand the importance of addressing mental, emotional, and spiritual health in a patient’s care. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my husband and my two young adult kids, traveling, reading, and talking real estate and investing. My 20 years of working as health care provider, have allowed me to see the gap in patient education and health disparities that is so prevalent in our community and it was the closing of local retail clinics that demonstrated the need for access to quick, convenient and compassionate care. Those issues sparked my initial interest in opening a clinic to provide care that would fill a gap in delivering convenient compassionate care based on patient education and patient empowerment.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Building a business is always challenging as there are many moving parts to growing and nurturing a business. However, we were blessed to receive assistance from friends, family, and local businesses in reducing our start-up costs and materials. One of our biggest challenges is staying consistent with marketing our business and letting people know about our location and our variety of services. Our second biggest challenge is keeping up with insurance requirements and policies so that we receive fair reimbursement for our services. We are launching a direct primary care program that is similar to a subscription model that will help people without insurance be able to afford health care and will help us with sustaining our practice in light of reduced health care reimbursement.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
In 2020, Myself and Dawna Willis, who has been a mentor and close friend for years decided that we would move forward with opening up a primary care practice. A major motivator was how we saw patients not being able to access care because of the COVID-19 pandemic and we knew we needed to help our community.
Who is Trinity Comprehensive Healthcare Center, PLLC?
Trinity Comprehensive Healthcare Center is a Faith-Based family-oriented healthcare clinic providing comprehensive and compassionate healthcare services to patients 12 and older. Located in an underserved community, we focus on providing holistic care by incorporating social, mental, spiritual, and physical health needs when developing a patient’s plan of care. We want to change the delivery of healthcare by integrating excellent patient care, education, accessibility, and community service in a way that primarily puts the patient’s needs first and ultimately improves the health status of our communities. Care is focused heavily on education and lifestyle modifications, and then modern medicine and procedures. Services that we provide include primary care, preventative care or wellness exams, acute care, telehealth care, and remote patient monitoring for chronic health conditions and COVID infections.
So, Who Owns Trinity Comprehensive Healthcare, PPLC?
The owners of Trinity CHCC, Latoya Cook and Dawna Willis, met 16 years ago while working together at a Women’s Health Clinic. We shared a passion for teaching, serving, and caring for others through nursing. We shared the belief that “Nursing is our Ministry” and it formed our future vision for business. Our business was birthed in the middle of a pandemic. As nurses we saw the devastating impact the COVID virus had on our community and how preexisting healthcare disparities were magnified during a time when health care providers were overworked and operating with limited resources. We saw how undiagnosed preexisting conditions led to even worse outcomes in our community and lastly, we saw a lack of follow-up care for those suffering with prolonged symptoms. We decided to launch our business during a time when our community had the greatest need for compassionate care and education on reducing comorbid disease and complications. While other businesses were closing, we stepped out on faith and launched Trinity Comprehensive Healthcare Center with a desire to provide care differently. Therefore, as small business owners, we can fulfill our desire to reduce health disparities in our community while leaving a legacy for our families.
Trinity Comprehensive Healthcare Center Goals:
Our business is a healthcare clinic that ultimately seeks to bridge the gap in reducing disparities in health care by providing compassionate and culturally sensitive care. We take into consideration all the barriers that our community members encounter to receiving care, including lack of funds, transportation, mental needs, and attempt to address those by incorporating reduced payment models for uninsured patients, and telehealth and remote patient monitoring services for extra convenience for appropriate patients. We also screen for mental and social issues so when those services are identified we can advocate and provide referrals and wrap around services as needed.
For appointments, outreach opportunities, speaking engagements, or for more information we can be reached at (901) 676-6218 or the following social media links.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.trinitychcc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trinitychcc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100065189963451
