Long driven by a desire to help others, Colette Susan Haywood, MD, MBA, joined the Grenada School of Nursing, where she obtained bachelor’s degrees in nursing and midwifery. Starting out as a nurse and midwife for the Ministry of Health in Grenada, she soon realized that she wanted to have an even more direct role in patient care and earned a Bachelor of Science in medical sciences from St. George’s University in 2003, which she followed with a Doctor of Medicine in 2008. During her time at St. George’s she served as the vice president for the undergraduate student government association, the student representative for the non-academic affairs committee and the public lecture series, and co-founder and president of the Pre-Medical Club. Ultimately, Dr. Haywood chose family medicine as her specialty, since it is a field that focuses on caring for the entire person, and completed her residency at the JFK University Medical Center.
In 2011, Dr. Haywood became a staff physician with the Family Health Centers of Southwest Florida, and she has also served as the director of adult medicine since 2015. In these roles, she sees adult patients who are uninsured or on Medicare or Medicaid; manages the assessment and treatment of chronic illnesses; and provides medication and health education, both to patients and pharmacies through the virtual medication therapy management program. Additionally, Dr. Haywood’s position as director has her overseeing physicians and other health professionals in the family health centers, liaising with other staff members and providing management guidance, and keeping their medical guidelines up to date.
Dr. Haywood has accomplished much over the course of her career, and she is particularly proud to have been selected as the physician lead for one of the teams to be awarded a $200,000 grant for innovative approaches to medication therapy management from BD. Notably, she also had the opportunity to lead the national target blood pressure control and cholesterol initiatives of the American Heart Association with the Family Health Centers’ largest clinic. Her team’s work on the initiative led to such improvement in their chronic disease management programs that it earned them national recognition as a Practice of Distinction in Contributing to Blood Pressure Control.
In recent years, Dr. Haywood has furthered her skills through obtaining a Master of Business Administration in health management and policy from the University of Miami Patti and Allen Herbert Business School in 2020, something she cites among the highlights of her career. She has also sought a variety of additional business and management certifications from various groups, including IBM, the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians, the World Education Services and more. In 2021, she brought her newfound management expertise to AdvisoryCloud, where she offers her services as an adviser to various boards. Looking toward the future, Dr. Haywood hopes to involve herself in global health care and research into health and technology advancement, as well as consulting.
Recognized as a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Dr. Haywood also maintains professional affiliation with a number of other health care organizations, such as the American Medical Association, the American Board of Family Medicine, the American Health Council, the Florida Academy of Family Physicians and the Iota Epsilon Alpha Honor Medical Society. She has also donated her time to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the clinical integration program of the Lee Physician Hospital Organization. Outside of health care, Dr. Haywood recently joined the Government Blockchain Association, following her certification in blockchain essentials by IBM.
For her excellence, Dr. Haywood has received a number of accolades from the Family Health Centers of Southwest Florida. Of note, she has received Certificates of Achievement for Bronze Standard on blood pressure control compliance, Bronze Standard on diabetes control compliance and Gold Standard on colorectal cancer screening compliance; a Certificate of Recognition; and the Firestarter Award. She has also been honored by the American Medical Association with a Physician’s Recognition Award for continuing medical education, and was early on inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society by St. George’s University. Furthermore, Dr. Haywood is a pinnacle professional member of Continental Who’s Who and has been featured in their Registry of National Business Leaders.
