Dr. Dorender Gray said she chose women’s healthcare to take care of Black patients in a medical system that can overlook or mistreat them. But the former resident said her mission was derailed at the University of Washington Medical Center when she became entangled in a program she was referred to after struggles of her own.
In February, Gray and another former UW medical resident who worked at Harborview Medical Center, Dr. Temi Ogunleye, filed a class-action complaint against the Washington Physicians Healthcare Program (WPHP), a nonprofit program for healthcare providers who experience workplace complications.
In a recent interview with Mensher present, Gray recounted her experience with WPHP, which began in 2024 during her second year of an obstetrics-gynecology residency at UW hospital. Gray said she became depressed and requested time off to attend therapy, in part, after an attending physician told her she didn’t provide feedback to residents of color. Instead, according to the lawsuit, her program supervisor mandated that Gray receive medical clearance from WPHP before returning to her residency…