Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenosha Gleaton.
Hi Kenosha, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m a first-generation college graduate who is extremely passionate about providing excellent service to women’s health. Since I can remember, I was settled on becoming a doctor despite a complete lack of role models. Honestly, it actually felt more like a calling.
As an 8-year-old, for entertainment, I’d retreat to my room and read the American Book of home remedies over and over again. I was by no means the smartest kid and my mom often reminded me only the smartest kids would get scholarships to afford medical school. But, one trait served me better than smarts – determination. The fastest way to get me to do something was to doubt my ability.
During college, while shadowing a Physician Assistant, I asked about work-life balance and was promptly informed, that if I had to question whether becoming a physician was compatible with having a family, then I wasn’t cut out to be a Doctor. I credit this sole conversation for transforming my desire to become a doctor from wishful thinking into a decade-long quest. I submitted my medical school application the next month.
Medical school proved challenging, but my efforts were galvanized and I felt fulfilled in forsaking common distractions for the purpose of excelling to remain near the top of my class. I fell in love with women’s health and felt so comfortable providing intimate care while having relatable conversations with women.
We laughed and sometimes cried our way through pap smears while talking about Oprah episodes, current events, and poor sex drive. Ob/GYN came so naturally and it never felt like work. After graduating from MUSC, and completing my ob-gyn residency, I returned to Charleston and joined a hospital-owned group practice. I felt so proud to do what I love and learned so much from my senior partners!
However, something was still missing. I found myself grieved when a patient’s experience wasn’t ideal, and I had few resources to correct it. It bothered me immensely for pregnant women to walk long distances across our hospital parking lot, to reach our practice in the sweltering Charleston heat in mid-July. Meanwhile, rows of physician parking were dedicated a few feet from every main entrance.
I felt again a calling; to not just be a doctor, but one that would change the patient experience. To make patients the center of decision-making. Thus after a decade of Hospital group practice, I started The EpiCentre, a spa-like OBgyn practice, focusing on meeting patients’ physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely fear! Because no one does private practice anymore! In fact, many of my senior partners called me crazy and suggested that I was ruining my professional and financial future.
The road hasn’t always been smooth, but honestly, I can say that it’s been easy. Simply because I made the decision to trust God, operate in Faith, and lose the doubt. As I stated, this is a calling.
And because I was so confident that I heard the voice of God when making the decision to start a solo private practice, I knew the end result would be greater than I imagined; what a Blessed Assurance!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
See answer to # 1. We are a spa-like ob-gyn practice that opened on Feb. 2021. In one year, we’ve grown from 4 to 13 teammates. We are so proud to offer customized care where women feel they’re in partnership as opposed to a dictatorship. We value women’s opinions and seek ways to wow them during their visit.
We offer unique services typically found in a medspa while catering to basic ob-gyn needs. In addition, we realize that the physical body also has mental and spiritual needs, thus we offer prayer and complimentary counseling sessions to all EpiCentre patients.
I am most proud of our Centering Program. Centering is group prenatal care, where 6-8 pregnant women around the same due date have combined prenatal visits which lead to empowerment, greater confidence, and improved pregnancy outcomes! It reduces disparities and has greater patient and provider satisfaction. This program is dear to my heart and is dedicated to my charismatic patient- Malakia Frazier.
I’ll never forget her. She was 22 weeks pregnant when I saw her face flash across the evening news. She was stabbed and tragically killed in her driveway by her boyfriend Ricky. Ricky attended all prenatal visits and never once seemed threatening. Both Malakia and her unborn child died that night.
After the shock wore off, I realized that traditional prenatal care is failing our women. Following Malakias death, I learned that SC leads the nation in Domestic violence/intimate partner violence, and this crime costs our state $360 million per year. Malakia and the women of SC deserve better.
Our centering pregnancy program allows women time and space to be vulnerable, voice concerns, and develop camaraderie while sharing a common experience. These deep bonds will no doubt last a lifetime and will connect their children and possibly generations to come!
Centering not only saves women’s lives but also saves babies. Preterm Birth, the number 1 killer of American infants, is reduced by 35% for center patients.
Thus, we’ve named the EpiCentre because similar to powerful emissions from an earthquake’s epicenter, we understand that our ripples are far-reaching, saving lives, and affecting generations to come!
What do you like and dislike about the city?
The Weather and The Weather!
I seriously dislike cold weather so I love that Charleston is warm nearly year-round. In that same vein, the summer heat and humidity make it tough for a girl to look cute when dripping sweat and swelling hair.
Contact Info:
- Website: epicentrecharleston.com
