It is with a heavy heart that I am reaching out to share some insight into the life and accomplishments of Chris Ramsey, Cempa Community Care’s Minority Outreach Consultant. Many of you are aware that Chris passed away over the weekend after a long battle with COVID-19 at just 54 years of age. Chris’s contributions will be missed not just by Cempa but by our entire community.
Chris was a native Chattanoogan who graduated from Brainerd High School in 1984. His truest passion was addressing and finding solutions to the health disparities of Chattanooga’s minority communities. He played a vital role in helping organize the annual Minority Health Fair in Chattanooga and helped Cempa launch a community health fair in 2019 at Howard High School.
Chris, who served as President of the Southeast Tennessee Health Consortium (SETHC), partnered with Cempa to launch the Faith-Based Health & Wellness Council to address issues of health disparities in Chattanooga’s most vulnerable communities. He also played a key role in developing the Faith-based Health & Wellness Symposium.
Chris also served thousands of people by helping at Cempa’s COVID-19 testing events. He loved everyone he met, and he always had a positive attitude about life, despite how difficult it seemed at the time. He was always up for a challenge! The impossible, he made possible. When it came to the health and livelihood of others, it didn’t matter who he needed to hear it, you could be certain he would make his voice heard. He was an advocate and strong voice for others and he served with true selflessness. Chris never cared about being in the spotlight, he cared about “doing the work” and “making it happen.” Chris has served as a mentor to me, LaDarius Price, Kia Ruffin, Paulo Hutson, and many others. He was not only a mentor; he was our friend and he was proud to be a part of the Cempa family.
In addition to his work with Cempa, Chris served as a healthcare consultant through Yesmar Strategies, started Chris Ramsey Insurance Agency, and was an active member of New Covenant Fellowship Church.
Although it feels that Chris’s story was much too short, I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on all that he accomplished — a great deal more than many do in a lifetime. Chris was a servant leader, and his legacy will live on through the programs and community partnerships he helped facilitate all across our community. In one of my last emails from Chris, he shared, “We still have a lot of work to do in our community to address health disparities for minorities, underserved residents and the most vulnerable in our community,” and he is right! My hope is that we will carry forward his wishes, to address health disparities for minorities, underserved, and most vulnerable, bringing true health equity to all we serve.
We are working with several community leaders on ways to honor and remember Chris. If you have any questions or simply need to talk, please do not hesitate to reach out. Grief is especially heavy in the midst of the pandemic, but we are blessed with an incredible team who is ready and willing to build each other up during this difficult time.
Thank you for all you do for Cempa and as Chris would always say, “Best of health.”
Shannon Stephenson, CPA, MBA
Chief Executive Officer, Cempa Community Care
