Dr. Teresa Wesley

Dr. Teresa M. Wesley is the Chief Medical Officer for United Healthcare Community and State of Kansas and is a physician with a valuable blend of clinical background and business acumen that dedicated to promoting health and wellness with in the community.

“We must make sure that we provide services and assistance to help with our member’s health journey. It is not good for patients to have to choose between feeding their family and getting their healthcare and medication. Addressing social determinants of health is key in ensuring a healthier society.” (Dr. Wesley)

Dr. Wesley has had proven success in defining and executing health plan strategies that strengthening clinical teams. She has been described as a decisive leader with strong relationship building skills and a motivator who quickly identifies issues, develops solutions, and builds high performing culture. Dr. Wesley leverages a positive, collaborative management style that builds a culture of employee engagement and collaboration that manifests across the organization.

While in primary school, she declared to her parents that she wanted to be a doctor. She worked hard towards achieving that goal, and learned the true meaning of vision, faith and resilience. Graduating salutatorian from high school as a National Honors Society Scholar; graduating from the University of Kansas with a B.A. Biology with honors as a Howard Hughes Biomedical Scholar and Kansas Endowment Scholar; and graduating from the University Of Kansas School of Medicine with Honors in Pathology and superior evaluation in Public Health and Medical Ethics, were the foundational building blocks that allowed Dr. Wesley to be prepared to lean into her career as a healthcare professional.  She enhanced that skillset, by clinical research, internships and clinical apprenticeships, publishing research in the Lancet Oncology, all of which enhanced her goal of making a meaningful impact for the underserved population. She then chose to return home to Wichita, KS to complete her Internal Medicine Residency and give back to the community where she grew up. That strong desire to make a meaningful impact caused her, upon completion of residency, to join Internal Medicine Associates, in which she provided the full array of internal medicine care, including inpatient, critical care, outpatient, and nursing home care, for adults ranging from eighteen to one hundred-two years of age.

Dr. Wesley was asked to assist in orchestrating a new ground breaking fully integrated clinic, in which she was the medical director of CLIA and Laser Cosmetic. During her tenure at Internal Medicine Associates, Dr. Wesley was the recipient of the Individual Business Leader, Heart of America, Ethics and Business Award, Shining Star Award from Mother and Child Coalition, and a mayoral Proclamation for International Volunteer Day.

Her clinical expertise, business acumen as a medical director, and charismatic personality caused Dr. Wesley to be sought after as a thought leader.  She then began her journey with United Health Group. She entered the administrative arena for the company as the medical director who also wore the combined job duties of Health Services Director and Director of Clinical Operations for Institutional Special Needs Program.

Dr. Wesley strived to enhance the healthcare of the underserved population, and she transition to being Medical Director for United Healthcare Community and State of Kansas. And currently she is the Chief Medical Officer of the Kansas Medicaid Plan for United Healthcare, in which she provides clinical oversight, to ensure that the members get the very best health care. At her tenure in administrative medicine, she focuses or on whole person care that addresses the medical needs of the members, as well as mental health. In addition, within that clinical oversight, she makes it a priority to ensure that the social disparities that can be challenging to the population that the health plan serves, are addressed and solutions are derived.  In addition, Dr. Wesley’s health education platform includes; radio, media live interviews, and health education segments, newsletter education and community baby showers. Among her peers, Dr. Wesley thrives off of the accomplishments of her colleagues and has mentored fellow Chief Medical Officers, physicians, medical students and colleagues on self- empowerment and career elevation.

Dr. Wesley, in addition to her demanding day job, is a devoted wife and mother to one son that is in middle school. And their family’s foundation is faith, service, and philanthropy. In addition, to being a physician Dr. Wesley is a motivational speaker and author of Vision, Faith and Resilience: Affirmations for Life (self-published) and Co-contributor of One Hundred Words of Women (Renaissance Press), and contributor to Picking up the Pieces (Purpose Publishing). She has also embarked upon being a mystery and suspense author of her debut novel, with in the Sparrow Mystery Series, Sparrow: The Water’s Edge (Purpose Publishing) under her pen name T.T. McGil. In addition, to a well-received book tour, she was the producer of the Book enactment for Sparrow: The Water’s Edge in July 2019 live at the Kansas City IMPROV and also a screenwriter.

Dr. Wesley is a clinician who has made her mark in the clinical and administrative world by her empathetic spirit and diligent efforts to ensure that the patients that she encounters has the very best health care possible and an enhanced quality of life. For with God nothing is impossible, from Luke 1:37 is the premise in which Dr. Teresa Wesley approaches life and she is so humbled and honored to have been nominated for the 2020 Women in White Coats Hero Award.