25 Women for 2024: Dr. Temple Robinson's dedication to health care blossoms at Bond
“When people would die and no one could tell me why, I would get frustrated,” recalls Dr. Temple Robinson of her curiosity in medicine as a child. “I’ve always wanted to practice medicine and give people more access and a choice of where they can go for healthcare.”
Now respected nationally and locally as an effective community health leader and ambassador for the community health center movement, Robinson’s understanding of the complex regulations for community health centers means that she can advocate for Tallahassee’s most vulnerable. It also means that she is one of Tallahassee’s 25 Women You Need to Know in 2024.
An accomplished executive physician with over 30 years of experience in private and public healthcare, Robinson first joined Bond Community Health Center as a physician and medical director, then served as Chief Medical Officer, and has been in the role of CEO since 2015. “I inherited a great legacy from caring founders with a charge to make sure Bond stands for many years to come to provide care for our community,” she says. It is her mission to create a legacy of care in Tallahassee.
“I believe that access to quality health care is a right,” she said. “I want Bond to be known as a comprehensive health center that offers a vast array of services for anyone in the Tallahassee area seeking care and to see to it that those who work so hard and long to render these services have a comfortable place to work.”
When Robinson heard that the students at Sabal Palm Elementary School were in need of dental care, she arranged for the Bond Dental Mobile unit to go to the school so students could be seen on-site for dental services twice a month and be available for emergencies.
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She didn’t stop there. Seeing the dental needs at the school inspired her to write a federal grant for an on-site dental clinic that serves not only the students, families, and school faculty but the entire surrounding community. The Smile Connection at Sabal Palm opened last March and has served hundreds of students and families in the community. “I love what I do,” she said. “I am inspired by the constant of change.”
When most people were sheltering in place and paralyzed with fear of COVID-19, Dr. Robinson and her team were on the front line, getting vaccines to the general public, overseeing the first testing sites, and sharing in the media how to stay healthy during trying times. She credits her parents for her desire to be a positive influence.
“My parents instilled attention to detail, perseverance, fair play, treating people with respect, hard work, and being deliberate in decision-making,” she said.
The list of accomplishments and contributions she has made to our community spans decades, ranging from securing accreditation and funding for medical clinics to pioneering telehealth for vulnerable populations to publishing in professional medical journals.
She is both hands-on and strategic, consistently looking for new ways to move the needle for the underserved, uninsured, undocumented, and homeless, finding innovative ways to approach problems, and improving working relationships between diverse parties to meet a common goal.
At the end of a long day, you are likely to see her taking just as good care of herself, making time for needlework, gardening, traveling, or fishing with her husband, Duane. “I’m a huge fan of the New York Yankees and country music!” She likes to explore Tallahassee, saying, “I love the beauty of the city. During my drives, I love finding a new park or neighborhood that may be tucked away just off a main thoroughfare.”
Dr. Robinson’s contributions to the health and wellbeing of our community are creating a legacy that will be hard to follow. Her caring nature and get-it-done attitude are good medicine for Tallahassee and all of us.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Dr. Temple Robinson advocates for health care at Bond Center
