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    Dr. Rachel Webster, an obstetrician/gynecologist (OB/GYN) at Maimonides Health, is helping to usher in the hospital's new Adult and Pediatric Care Center in Brooklyn with the goal of making it easier for Brooklyn families to access comprehensive, coordinated care close to home.  The new Adult and Pediatric Care Center, which is located at 6323 Seventh Avenue in Brooklyn and opened on Aug. 10, provides services such as adult primary care, pediatric primary care, nutrition counseling, and soon neurology services. It also expands access to comprehensive women's healthcare, providing services for every stage of life, through its Women’s Health Services Hub (WHSH).  Webster, who works at the new center, sees her parents, Marjorie and Ellis Webster, as the greatest influence on her current path. Her mom is the daughter of Haitian immigrants and her dad grew up in Anguilla.  “They met in medical school in the States and became a pediatrician (mom) and an ENT (dad), practicing in underserved areas in South Florida," she explained. "When I went to college, my dad expanded his practice to Anguilla, hosting community health fairs and providing subspecialty care for patients throughout the Caribbean. Although I didn’t always know that I would follow them into medicine, their emphasis on the values of education and service motivated me to find a career that would allow me to provide educational and supportive care to patients within my community and with limited access to healthcare." She spent summers in Anguilla throughout her childhood, staying with her family on a piece of land shared by her dad and his six siblings. She loved the calm nature of the island and would spend most of her time swimming or reading at the beach when she wasn’t eating fresh mangos or exploring with her cousins.  Once she got older, she worked in her dad’s ENT office, registering patients and assisting in procedures. Her favorite part of working in the office was seeing the relationship between her dad and his patients (often family members and neighbors) as he calmed them during stressful moments with a smile and clear explanations of their medical conditions. Once the office closed, she was back at Shoal Bay, swimming and enjoying freshly caught snapper for dinner. “Through my family in Anguilla, I learned about different healthcare systems and the implications of limited access to subspecialty care," Dr. Webster said. "After my aunt died in childbirth due to eclamptic seizures, many of my family members traveled abroad for their obstetric care — particularly if they had risk factors for preeclampsia or fibroids impacting their pregnancy.”  Because of these experiences, she was motivated to build a strong foundation in high risk obstetrics, to support her patients like her family members, while also focusing on patient safety, searching for ways to improve our systems to optimize health outcomes in maternal care. She moved to NYC to pursue her medical doctor degree (MD) at Columbia University, which she was overjoyed to do.  “Some of my first clinical exposures included volunteering at a clinic within a syringe exchange & providing street based care to patients throughout Washington Heights," she said. "Additionally, I found strong mentorship through BALSO, the Black and Latino Student Organization, and enjoyed mentoring other budding doctors in Columbia’s undergraduate and Postbac programs. These experiences allowed me to start building a career based in education, service & compassionate care.”  Then, she did her residency training at Thomas Jefferson University. For her, she was excited to match there, and nervous to be a new OB intern.  She had the joy of welcoming her daughter, Josephine last fall, which she said has truly deepened her appreciation for the work she and other women do as OBGYNs.  “It’s an honor to care for my patients wherever they are in their reproductive journeys, to cheer them on as they push harder than they thought possible, and to provide calm support when their pregnancies don’t go as planned," Dr. Webster said. "The difficulties of pregnancy, including infertility, pregnancy loss & pregnancy complications, may seem taboo in casual conversation but are common topics in my exam room. It is important to me to create an environment where my patients feel comfortable sharing the details of their reproductive health so that I can empower them to reach their reproductive goals."
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