Local Hero: Dr. Ludlow B. Creary

" A quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. which has aided in guiding my life's work has been 'The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands at times of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.'"
For more than 50 years, Ludlow B. Creary, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.F.P., has made it his life's work to serve minority residents of the greater Los Angeles area with improved healthcare. In 1971, Dr. Creary and fellow physician Dr. George Jackson, Sr. spearheaded the opening of the historic West Adams Hospital, in the West Adams area of Los Angeles. The groundbreaking facility was the first of its size and scope to be owned and operated by black physicians in California providing over 1,000 jobs to the minority community. The hospital launched a wide variety of health-education programs generating even more job opportunities for the community. During this same period, Dr. Creary was also involved in the creation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital and assisted in the founding of a Specialty Board in Family Medicine.

For over two decades Dr. Creary was Professor and Chair, the Department of Family Medicine, at Charles R. Drew University, succeeding Dr. David Satcher, a former U.S. surgeon general, and a concurrent appointment as Adjunct Professor, Department of Medicine, U.C.L.A. During his tenure in the 1980s, he oversaw several new medical education programs, including the first Accreditation of the Department of Family Medicine, where he chaired the Professional Staff Association of MLK Jr. Hospital/Charles Drew Medical Center. Dr. Creary and his team participated in the development of the Medex Program at the Medical School, which trained former military personnel who had been Medex trainees to be physician assistants. This program eventually became the renowned Physician Assistance (PA) certificated program, one of the first certified PA programs in the State of California. The department, under his leadership until his retirement in 2002, is credited for training hundreds of physician assistants and thousands of medical students and medical residents.

After retiring from the County of Los Angeles, Dr. Creary and his wife Ruth Creary, Ph.D., a psychologist, purchased the first Visiting Angels' franchise in the cities of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. Visiting Angels offers non-medical care-giving services primarily to seniors, but also patients during pre and post hospitalization. In addition to serving as Medical Director of Visiting Angels, a non-salaried position, Dr. Creary, has volunteered his time in mentoring students and colleagues, provided expertise in many community health screenings and lectured at various non-profits and community programs all over the state of California, as well as Los Angeles. Over the years he has served on multiple Boards, including California Blue Shield, the Council of the L.A. County Medical Association, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, and the Tom Bradley Legacy Foundation, to name a few. Currently, he is a member of the Charles Drew Medical Society, the Golden State Medical Society and emeritus member of the National Medical Association. He also serves as Board Chair for the non-profit "Cooking with Gabby", which seeks to promote physical activity and healthy eating to combat the high incidence of childhood obesity. Dr. Creary's many awards span the decades from being named the National Medical Association's Practitioner of the Year in 1976, to the Distinguished Physician Award from The Minority Health Institute in 1996, to his recent 2014 National Medical Association, Region VI Chairman's Award.

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