Dr. James Griffin is the first Black individual to hold the position of president at Parkland Medical Staff.
His most recent accomplishment comes after a long history with the hospital that extends back to his birth. According to the Center Plus Times, the president-elect was born at Parkland Hospital in 1958, when the labor and delivery ward was still segregated.
He told Fox4, “In 1958, until I became a 2nd grader, my parents couldn’t vote. So to be elected by my peers, I think takes on special connection. It connects me back to a point where we didn’t have a voice and now you have given a voice to someone who had a different background. I think it’s very important. And that resonates with me, with responsibility and accountability.”
Dr. Griffin was the first Black graduate of UT Southwestern Medical School. He completed his anesthesiology residency and joined the faculty.
He is not only the Vice Chair of Anesthesiology and Pain Management at UT Southwestern, but also a Distinguished Teaching Professor and a fellow of the Southwestern Academy of Teachers. In 2021, he got UTSW’s Leaders in Clinical Excellence Institutional Service Award.
Dr. Griffin grew up in the shadows of UT Southwestern in Oak Cliff, dreaming of becoming a doctor. His father was a teacher, coach, administrator, and pastor, while his mother attended graduate school with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and became a librarian in the Dallas Independent School District.
He stated, “Service is in my genes. Teaching is in our blood, which is perhaps why I remained on the faculty at UT Southwestern. Teaching in medicine is an ongoing attempt to build bridges across chasms of the unknown or misunderstood.
Dr. Griffin added that he will continue to seek to find a balance and improve access to high-quality healthcare in his new role as president and chief administrative officer of Parkland’s medical team.