Dr. James Knight: a surgeon and a giver
Beyond the operating room, Dr. James Knight shares his knowledge and conveys his passion about the need for African Americans to “realize we don’t have to die earlier because we don’t have a lot of money.”
“Our people are still the poorest ethnic group in American, even though I’m a doctor and there are many lawyers and other well-off African Americans living in St. Louis and all over the country,” Knight said.
“The poorest people have the poorest health.”
A St. Louis vascular surgeon since 1981 and assistant clinical professor of surgery at Saint Louis University Medical School, Knight admits patients from his large city and inner suburbs practice to St. Mary’s, Des Peres, Forest Park and DePaul hospitals. He takes care of arteries and veins, aortic aneurysms and carotid artery disease – and he’s vocal about the correlation of socioeconomics and health.
Growing up in rural Alabama, Knight knows poor
“The poorer you are, the poorer your health. I don’t know why that is,” he said.
“You either don’t take care of yourself, or you don’t have enough money to take care of yourself. Early strokes, heart attacks and diabetes that cause amputations are preventable if we would take better care of ourselves.”
Knight serves on boards such as the Missouri Foundation for Health and American Heart Association and gives talks about vascular health to community residents and professional society members, from St. Louis to Carbondale to Atlanta and Hawaii.
He is also pioneering the use of a revolutionary new, minimally invasive technology called the SilverHawk that removes plaque commonly blocking arteries and interrupting blood flow. The device clears arteries to treat patients successfully that have heart failure and are a poor risk for bypass surgery.
A member of the Charmaine Chapman Society, the African-American Leadership Giving Initiative of the United Way of Greater St. Louis, Knight exemplifies building a healthier community – one of the local United Way’s goals.
Just as Knight is looking out for the health and welfare of an entire community, he credits three other men in his life who served as role models for who he is today.
Dr. Vallee Willman, former chief of surgery as Saint Louis University Medical School, called Knight long distance in 1971 and paid for a round-trip plane ticket for him to interview at SLU as “one of the top black students in the country,” based on his undergraduate record at Alabama A&M. After Knight’s graduation from medical school, Willman recruited him to become a member of the department of surgery, where “he and I hit it off very well,” Knight remembered.
Dr. Donald M. Suggs, founder of the Charmaine Chapman Society, also reached out to Dr. Knight when he finished his residency and fellowship.
And John Jacob, retiring executive vice president of Global Communications for Anheuser-Busch Companies, recruited Knight 8 years ago to join United Way’s African-American Leadership Giving Initiative.
“I met John Jacob at another surgeon’s house. He was not asking as much for money as involvement in the community,” Knight said.
“He made me realize I owed something back. He talked about where he grew up and said his bedroom in his house now is bigger than the house he grew up in. I said to myself, ‘My bedroom is bigger than the house I grew up in, too!’”
A Charmaine Chapman Society Leadership Giver, Knight is neither the first nor the last involved community leader to encourage others to join the focus on improving community health. Those indicators will change if more join him in supporting 200 United Way agencies that work toward the same goal.
The Charmaine Chapman Society is a leadership giving program through United Way of Greater St. Louis that recognizes African Americans who give $1,000 or more to the annual fund-raising campaign. Founded in 1994 by St. Louis American publisher Dr. Donald Suggs, the Charmaine Chapman Society has been heralded nationally as a model program.
For more information on the Charmaine Chapman Society, call (314)-539-4116 or visit online at: www.pledgeunitedway.org. For more information about United Way services, please contact 1-800-427-4626.
