| Doctor has a heart for patients and community |
| Cardiologist Yele Aluko to be honored at Post Best banquet |
| Published Wednesday, July 20, 2011 7:18 pm |
Dr. Shirley Houston-Aluko said her husband, Dr. Yele Aluko, believes in providing patients with the best health care possible.
Dr. Jerome E. Williams Jr., who has worked with Aluko for 15 years, said Aluko is extremely focused but takes the time to be able to make positive affects on many people’s lives.
Aluko’s close friend, Patrick Diamond, says the cardiologist is one of the best physicians in the city.
Aluko, a partner at Mid Carolina Cardiology, has been nominated for the 2011 Charlotte Post Foundation’s Luminary Lifetime Achievement award. The luminary is selected based on contributions made in the community and Aluko will be honored at the Post Best Awards Oct. 1 at Hilton Charlotte Center City, 222 East Third St.
Aluko’s story dates back to his native West Africa, where medicine runs in his family. Aluko’s sister is a pediatric cardiologist in Nigeria, and his wife is a physician at the Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness.
Upon graduating from the University of Ibadan Medical School in Nigeria and moving to the U.S., Aluko said he applied to 150 medical programs. He got three responses and one interview.
“My name was different,” Aluko said. “I was not in the mainstream, in addition to my place of teaching, and then there were the perceptions of being a foreign trained African physician.”
Still, he completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in New York.
He went on to complete further fellowships at Cornell University Medical Center in New York and at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, Ma.
When he moved to Charlotte, there were more obstacles.
“I received a fair amount of scrutiny,” Aluko said. “But I was as good as any other physician.”
When he was turned down for jobs at local cardiology practices, Aluko did the next best thing and opened his own business in 1990.
“After six months, the practice took off,” Aluko said.
Four years later, Aluko and three other African American cardiologists were working together, with a mostly black cliental.
“At that time black patients were seen by black doctors,” he said.
Then another merger happened, resulting in Mid Carolina Cardiology in 1997.
“After my group merged there was an unusual chain of events being that four African Americans were embraced as part of what had historically been run by Caucasians,” Aluko said. “However, we found that we were all similar in philosophy.”
For five years Aluko and Williams hosted a community health symposium, which discussed the disparities in health among minorities in cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.
“(Aluko) works tirelessly on a level in Charlotte and in a broader level trying to bring awareness and education to promote equal access and to limit healthcare disparities,” Williams said. “We were involved with conceiving and putting together the health disparities symposium.”
When Aluko is away from the hospital, Williams says Aluko enjoys life by listening to jazz, entertaining at his home or by playing golf. He is also dedicated to his family.
“It’s been an honor and a privilege to work with him,” Williams said. “My life has been enhanced with our friendship both personally and professionally as we are partners in the same group.”
Diamond said the Aluko’s are outstanding professionals, great friends and avid art collectors.
“I know that (Aluko) and his family have supported a wide range of non-profit organizations throughout the time they have lived in the city,” Diamond said. “I think that Yele is extraordinary and he has a well-deserved reputation here in our community.”
As for the person who perhaps knows Aluko the best, the two of them have been married for 25 years.
“I don’t think (Aluko) likes being in the limelight,” Houston-Aluko said. “I think he prefers to take care of his patients. He’s very good at what he does.”
In the meantime, Aluko is spreading his message about the No. 1 killer of Americans: heart disease.
“The reasons for heart disease are simple and predictable,” he added. “A lot has to do with understanding the risk factors. It does require discipline and an ongoing program of checks and balances.”
Dr. Jerome E. Williams Jr., who has worked with Aluko for 15 years, said Aluko is extremely focused but takes the time to be able to make positive affects on many people’s lives.
 |
| Dr. Yele Aluko |
Aluko’s close friend, Patrick Diamond, says the cardiologist is one of the best physicians in the city.
Aluko, a partner at Mid Carolina Cardiology, has been nominated for the 2011 Charlotte Post Foundation’s Luminary Lifetime Achievement award. The luminary is selected based on contributions made in the community and Aluko will be honored at the Post Best Awards Oct. 1 at Hilton Charlotte Center City, 222 East Third St.
Aluko’s story dates back to his native West Africa, where medicine runs in his family. Aluko’s sister is a pediatric cardiologist in Nigeria, and his wife is a physician at the Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness.
Upon graduating from the University of Ibadan Medical School in Nigeria and moving to the U.S., Aluko said he applied to 150 medical programs. He got three responses and one interview.
“My name was different,” Aluko said. “I was not in the mainstream, in addition to my place of teaching, and then there were the perceptions of being a foreign trained African physician.”
Still, he completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in New York.
He went on to complete further fellowships at Cornell University Medical Center in New York and at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, Ma.
When he moved to Charlotte, there were more obstacles.
“I received a fair amount of scrutiny,” Aluko said. “But I was as good as any other physician.”
When he was turned down for jobs at local cardiology practices, Aluko did the next best thing and opened his own business in 1990.
“After six months, the practice took off,” Aluko said.
Four years later, Aluko and three other African American cardiologists were working together, with a mostly black cliental.
“At that time black patients were seen by black doctors,” he said.
Then another merger happened, resulting in Mid Carolina Cardiology in 1997.
“After my group merged there was an unusual chain of events being that four African Americans were embraced as part of what had historically been run by Caucasians,” Aluko said. “However, we found that we were all similar in philosophy.”
For five years Aluko and Williams hosted a community health symposium, which discussed the disparities in health among minorities in cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.
“(Aluko) works tirelessly on a level in Charlotte and in a broader level trying to bring awareness and education to promote equal access and to limit healthcare disparities,” Williams said. “We were involved with conceiving and putting together the health disparities symposium.”
When Aluko is away from the hospital, Williams says Aluko enjoys life by listening to jazz, entertaining at his home or by playing golf. He is also dedicated to his family.
“It’s been an honor and a privilege to work with him,” Williams said. “My life has been enhanced with our friendship both personally and professionally as we are partners in the same group.”
Diamond said the Aluko’s are outstanding professionals, great friends and avid art collectors.
“I know that (Aluko) and his family have supported a wide range of non-profit organizations throughout the time they have lived in the city,” Diamond said. “I think that Yele is extraordinary and he has a well-deserved reputation here in our community.”
As for the person who perhaps knows Aluko the best, the two of them have been married for 25 years.
“I don’t think (Aluko) likes being in the limelight,” Houston-Aluko said. “I think he prefers to take care of his patients. He’s very good at what he does.”
In the meantime, Aluko is spreading his message about the No. 1 killer of Americans: heart disease.
“The reasons for heart disease are simple and predictable,” he added. “A lot has to do with understanding the risk factors. It does require discipline and an ongoing program of checks and balances.”
Comments
| I met Dr. Aluko in 1990 when he became my mother's cardiologist. His kind manner, and positive encouragement and strict guidelines increase the quality and length of my mother's life. I will always be grateful for his care, when other doctors gave up. Dr. Aluko is so deserving of this award and more. May the blessings of the Lord always shine on you and yours. Ann Pearsall-Waller |
| Posted on September 14, 2011 |
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