Joyce Brown, Ph.D., has spent 40 years leading philanthropic and community organizations, earning a coveted Rosa Parks Award from her local NAACP chapter among other honors.
Yet doctors have refused to treat Brown during the two most vital moments of her life — during her heart failure 12 years ago and her discovery of Stage Zero breast cancer last year — launching her into patient-advocate passion mode.
The oncologist in the breast-cancer case instructed her staff to tell Brown that the doctor was refusing to treat Brown because the healthcare insurance was out of network.