The Spirit of Giving - Pallavi Patel, M.D.
As appeared in Tampa Bay Woman Newspaper - November-December 2005

From the Tampa Bay Woman Newspaper Front Cover, November - December 2005 Edition.

Dr. Pallavi Patel, accomplished pediatrician, entrepreneur and philanthropist, had always wanted to make a difference in the world.  A native of Ahmedabad, India, she worked with her physician husband, Dr. Kiran C. Patel, in Zambia for many years before coming to Tampa in 1982. In Tampa, she was soon making a major difference in her community.  The Patels started a medical practice which quickly expanded to 22 locations offering family and internal medicine, pediatrics and cardiology.  By pursuing managed healthcare contracts, these practices serviced more than 90,000 patient visits annually.  Eventually their efforts led to the formation and success of Wellcare HMO.  By the time they sold their majority interest in that company in 2002, it served over 400,000 members and employed more than 1200 people in Florida and New York.

So today, while Dr. Pallavi Patel manages “only ten” family medicine practices, she is able to find time to bring many innovations to her Florida community and her India homeland.   She was instrumental in the creation of the India Cultural Festival at the University of South Florida.  She was integrally involved in the building and managing of the India Cultural Center in Tampa.

In 2003, the highly-acclaimed Dr. Pallavi Patel Performing Arts Conservatory in Tampa set the stage for the Patel family’s community-building activities.  As a result of their gift, thousands of young people in Central Florida suddenly had the option to live their dreams to become entertainment artists. 

Shortly thereafter, the Patels followed with a gift to the University of South Florida that established a charter school to meet the needs of at-risk children.  It included a Pediatric Care Center that Dr. Pallavi Patel volunteers at weekly, assuring a continuum of free pediatric care to all school’s students. 

The Patels’ contributions to the Tampa Bay area also include the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Research Center at Pepin Heart Hospital and the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions at the University of South Florida.  Without a doubt, Dr. Pallavi Patel’s involvement is critical to each of these endeavors.  “She is very focused and rational in her thinking, with a supreme sense of optimism and confidence,” says Dr. Renu Khator, the provost at the University of South Florida.” I have seen her in meetings when people say there is nothing that can be done, and she says there’s always something that can be done.  Her voice often tips the balance.”

Pallavi Patel’s love of her homeland is paramount among her many charitable concerns, and she uses her position as President of the Patel Foundation for Global Understanding to build empowerment projects in health, education and arts & culture.  Annual visits to India take her to several of the projects that interest her most.  Sponsoring children’s heart surgeries at a hospital in Bangalore (so far more than 50), supporting 41 HIV clinics and health camps, helping to build schools and clinics and contributing to village restoration projects in rural Gujarat, are just some of her interests. 

Most recently, the Patels have begun to support the building of clinics and a hospital in Zambia and Tanzania.  Says Dr. Pallavi Patel, “Living in three countries at different times in our lives has given us a unique perspective on day-to-day issues in a wide variety of cultures.  I suppose global understanding has always been our dream, but now it is also our reality.”

The Foundation for Global Understanding is a not-for-profit organization focused on improving the human condition by providing programs and funding for health, education and the arts. The foundation is committed to: Being actively involved in the creation and participation of the solutions we fund; Partnerships which leverage donations, local resources and community efforts; Projects which can be replicated to make the highest positive impact on the lives of the largest number of people at the lowest cost; and Providing donors the confidence, flexibility and transparency they require in order to invest their resources in good works.
Drs. Kiran & Pallavi Patel have been actively involved in global philanthropy for years. In early 2003, they decided they wanted to consolidate their efforts into an organization that helped them and other fellow donors create extraordinary results for worthy charities. The Patels dream of an organization which can leverage the contributions of many individuals and companies, resulting in greater humanitarian impact and reach. They would like to direct their passion and compassion towards good works by partnering with many others to achieve their dreams.

For more information, visit
the Patel Foundation’s website at:
www.global-understanding.org.
 Photos by Dianne Blyler of the Patel Foundation.