By Lelita Cannon
Dr. Benjamin Simmons, a Family Physician and Assistant Professor for the Department of Family Medicine, has been part of Atrium Health for 13 years. His medical practice extends to newborns, geriatrics and everyone in-between in both inpatient and outpatient clinical settings. Simmons currently serves as faculty for the Family Medicine Residency Program at Atrium Health Union Family Practice. Prior to that, he helped establish the Atrium Health Urgent Care facility in Salisbury, North Carolina.
There, he led the development of a domestic violence care initiative in partnership with the Rowan County women’s shelter. He also launched a program to assist individuals afflicted with asthma. A graduate of Howard University College of Medicine, Simmons believes ideal health outcomes are realized when practitioners support services that meet patient needs at a comprehensive level — affordable medications, a nutritious and attainable diet, reliable transportation and stable housing chief among those necessities.
And that passion for advocacy and outreach stretches beyond the walls of his practice. For the past four years in observation of National HIV Testing Day, Simmons has worked with One Charlotte Health Alliance to provide HIV testing using mobile medical units in underserved communities in the Charlotte area.