A Dream Fulfilled: How One Optum Physician Found Purpose Through Service

For more than 30 years, Dr. Alison Wright carried a dream with her: to serve on a medical mission and care for patients beyond her own community. While in medical school, she planned to volunteer in Nicaragua, but the trip was canceled at the last minute. Life moved forward, and the opportunity never came — until recently.

In 2023, that dream finally became reality through a partnership between One World Surgery (OWS) and Optum Health. Dr. Wright, a family medicine physician at American Health Network (AHN) in Indiana, traveled to the Dominican Republic to volunteer with OWS.

What began as a long-awaited professional milestone quickly became something more personal. Alison brought her two daughters along — one currently studying medicine — turning the experience into a powerful family journey rooted in compassion and service.

Last September, she returned to the Dominican Republic alongside Shayla Kellerman, a medical assistant from her practice.

“Both trips were incredible bonding experiences, personally and professionally,” Alison shared. “You gain so much perspective and really learn to appreciate what we have here at home.”

Meeting Patients Where Access Is Limited

OWS’s primary care outreach takes place in bateyes — rural communities surrounded by sugar cane farms where access to medical care is extremely limited. Geographic isolation, scarce resources, and an overwhelmed public health system mean many patients lack documentation or insurance, making even basic healthcare difficult to access. As a result, conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, infections, and parasites often go untreated.

In these environments, volunteer teams return to the fundamentals of medicine. Working alongside local clinicians, translators, and social workers, providers rely on clinical expertise, portable tools, and adaptability to deliver compassionate care to hundreds of patients in a single week.

Alison likened the experience to practicing medicine during the early days of COVID-19 — requiring flexibility, collaboration, and a renewed focus on core clinical skills when traditional resources aren’t available.

“I was really impressed with how the team persevered through any challenge,” she said. “Whether the power goes out, or if it floods, we took it in stride and kept moving.”

In just one week, the team cared for more than 500 patients, many traveling long distances with their entire families for the chance to be seen. Despite long waits and difficult circumstances, their gratitude left a lasting impression.

“Everyone is so friendly and grateful,” Alison said. “It really warms your heart.”

Part of a Larger Continuum of Care

Primary care missions play a critical role in OWS’s broader model of care. By identifying untreated conditions, stabilizing patients, and connecting communities to ongoing medical support, these outreach efforts help build pathways to long-term health, including access to surgical care when needed.

This continuum of care ensures that patients are not only treated in the moment but supported through sustainable, community-centered healthcare. For Alison, seeing this model firsthand reshaped her perspective — both personally and professionally.

“You realize how easy it is to get caught up in the small stuff,” she reflected. “But when you see how much bigger the challenges are in other parts of the world, it changes you. I’m so grateful for the privilege of doing what I do here at AHN, with all the tools and resources that make my job easier.”

Alison plans to return to the Dominican Republic and hopes to volunteer in Honduras in the future. Her advice for colleagues considering a medical mission is simple:

“It’s a great way to fill your cup,” she said. “If you can, take someone with you — maybe a colleague or even your child. It might change the path of their life. And it’s a powerful reminder of how fortunate we are.”

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