By
- Joseph D. Bryant | jbryant@al.com
The first face that countless Birmingham babies saw as they entered the world was Dr. Rowell Ashford
As a founding physician and longtime head of OB/GYN at Cooper Green Hospital, Ashford trained the doctors, delivered babies and treated mothers for decades. Friends, relatives and former colleagues gathered Monday to honor the revered physician and public health advocate who died Aug 3. He was 90
Maralyn Mosely, an activist who served on Cooper Green’s advisory board as a patient representative for many years, met Ashford about 30 years ago
“I felt very good about him and if had someone whom I knew needed healthcare and may not be able to pay for it, I would pick up the phone and call him,” she told AL.com. “He looked after the people who needed him.”
Mosely said Ashford’s care for and commitment to his patients was evident and remains his legacy
“What we want people to think about us after we have departed is that they did the best they could for the community and for the people whom they loved,” Mosley said. “Unequivocally, Dr. Ashford loved his people. He was a doctor. He was concerned about the whole patient.”
Ashford, a native of Ensley, earned a bachelor’s in chemistry at Fisk University, then a medical degree at Meharry Medical College. The young doctor had planned to open a private practice in California until a visit back to Birmingham in 1972 changed everything -he saw a new hospital was set to open
It was the future Cooper Green Hospital, then known as Mercy Hospital. Ashford abandoned his plans for a lucrative private practice and instead made a commitment to providing healthcare to people least able to afford it
‘’I look at it as divine intervention that I got involved with Cooper Green Hospital,’’ Ashford told then Birmingham News reporter Anna Velasco in 2008. ‘’I felt deep within that someone has to take care of the folks that we take care of here. I didn’t particularly care if people talked about me at tea parties.’’
He remained at Cooper Green for 36 years. His son, Dr. Rowell Ashford Jr., followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming an obstetrician and a medical executive at Cooper Green, leading the OBGYN department
Cooper Green ended its inpatient hospital service in late 2012. Cooper Green Mercy Hospital is now run by UAB as a comprehensive health clinic
The father and son later founded a clinic in Ensley that specialized in providing medical care to underserved communities
Ashford was inducted into the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame and was named a “Legacy” in OB/GYN by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Dr. Mark Wilson, a former director of the Jefferson County Health Department, worked under Ashford at Cooper Green early in his career. Wilson said Ashford embodied professionalism and quiet guidance
“Dr. Ashford was a great physician serving people in the community who otherwise might not get care,” Wilson said during Ashford’s funeral at Sixth Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham
Wilson also called Ashford a good business manager who used reital
“His legacy is a legacy of kindness, of gentleness, caring for others and helping others do the same – inspiring others to do the same in their work,” Wilson said
