The daughter of Nigerian immigrants has been named Sparrow\u2019s first James W. Butler III Fellow, honoring the life and legacy of a community leader who had an immense impact on Sparrow and Mid-Michigan.<\/p>\n
Tolulope Adedokun said she\u2019s humbled to be part of such a community-driven health system and is particularly interested in improving access to healthcare. She said she\u2019s always been part of a \u201chealth family,\u201d with two sisters in healthcare and her mother as a nurse.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always had a passion for helping people. My parents pushed us to do things bigger than ourselves,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Adedokun, who holds a master\u2019s degree in Healthcare Services and Administration from Georgia Southern University, is the first Butler Fellow, a one-year post graduate administrative fellowship for racially diverse candidates. Sparrow created the Fellowship in part to address the need for diversity and inclusion in healthcare leadership, a major issue throughout the country.<\/p>\n
The Fellowship is a hands-on learning opportunity in which recipients are assigned a variety of administrative duties at Sparrow Health System designed to prepare them for healthcare management and leadership.<\/p>\n
It was named for the longtime member of the Sparrow Board of Directors, James W. Butler III, who died on Aug. 7. Butler championed access to high quality care for the most vulnerable and led efforts toward the state\u2019s first medical clinic for the homeless. He received the 2018 Sparrow Founders\u2019 Award, the highest honor bestowed by the health system.<\/p>\n
Butler was also a major force in local community activities and was a decorated military veteran who dedicated his life to others.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel that this fellowship in James\u2019s memory puts into concrete actionable steps what James always wanted us to be \u2013 to improve the diversity of healthcare leadership,\u201d said James F. Dover, President and CEO of Sparrow Health System.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned early in my career that diversity is fundamental to healthcare leadership and it requires particular attention to bring to reality. We want to break the glass ceiling while honoring James\u2019s leadership in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Fellowship is a lasting legacy of Butler\u2019s community service and involvement said John Pirich, chairman of the Sparrow Health System Board of Directors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis fellowship will honor his commitment to diversity and inclusiveness, which he practiced on a daily basis,\u201d Pirich said. \u201cThis will present an opportunity for young professionals to learn and excel at Sparrow Health System.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rishan Maxwell Butler, Butler\u2019s wife of 52 years, praised Sparrow for helping keep alive \u201cJames\u2019s philosophy of giving back to the community and joining with the family to keep his legacy and memory going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
What would this have meant to her husband? \u201cWhat he was trying to achieve has been acknowledged. What he did was not in vain.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe used to always say the good speaks for you, and this fellowship speaks for James.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adedokun will start in January and will report directly to the President and CEO of Sparrow Health System.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The daughter of Nigerian immigrants has been named Sparrow\u2019s first James W. Butler III Fellow, honoring the life…\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3057,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n