An Humble doctor has been featured in the newest season of “Small Business, Big Heart,” an inspirational online series showcasing small businesses that have given back to their communities in unique and positive ways.
The series is produced by Deluxe, a payments and business technology company, in partnership with Truist Financial Corporation.
Dr. Michelle Legall, physician and owner of Integrity Family Healthcare in Humble was featured in Episode 8 where she outlines her journey to becoming a doctor and practice owner.
The doctor said she didn’t know anything about Truist when she first walked in to cash a check.
“They were so friendly and helpful,” she said. She said the banker visited her practice and told her things they could do to help her. “I was blown away,” she said.
That has extended now to classes for her staff in financial literacy and a future community health fair.
In the short film, she tells viewers she was inspired to follow her mother into a career in medicine. Her mom was one of the first African American nurses in a Houston-area hospital. Now her legacy has spread to her children who know her struggles early on in an abusive relationship while trying to attend medical school.
Managing several different medical businesses now, she had been assisting with clients at FamilyTime in Humble but has shifted that momentum into her newly created charity that will assist women like her who were the victims of abuse.
The early year challenges
Legall grew up in the Carverdale community and went to Jersey Village High School.
“I went down the street to Prairie View A&M and then from there I went to Meharry Medical College which is one of four historic Black medical schools. Back in the day, our ancestors didn’t have a lot of choice. It was either Howard or Meharry,” she said. Meharry was the first African American medical school in the south.
She met her husband in Nashville and married at 23.
“I ended up having three children during medical school,” she said.
“This was before social media, cell phones, all that stuff. My fourth one was born right before residency. I became a single mom attending Baylor College of Medicine for family medicine and we did our internship at Ben Taub Hospital,” she said.
She said it was all a big blur most of those years while she was pregnant. Legall ended up divorcing her first husband who she said wasn’t supportive and wanted her to quit medical school and be a stay home mom.
“Then I think I must have been delirious and got remarried and had two more children,” her youngest being born when she turned 46.
She wears she wasn’t trying to get pregnant.
“I was on the pill, got pregnant with the Mirena IUD. My OB Gyn said she thought I was the most fertile woman she had ever seen as a patient,” the mother said.
Despite the hardships, the children were a blessing and brought her joy and comfort to an unusually hectic life she had created.
“I don’t know. It’s just by the grace of God and a lot of prayer and pressure,” she said trying to manage her busy schedule.
All her friends in medical school who also had children would send them to their parents and they just focused on school.
“I couldn’t bear being away from my kids, so I had them with me. I would rather suffer with them with me, than be missing them,” she said.
She would pick them up from daycare in the afternoon, spend some time with them, and then they would go to bed just after dinner.
“I was exhausted and didn’t get any support. I’d wake up at three o’clock in the morning, feed the kids and get them to daycare before arriving at school for the day,” she said.
Fast-forward a few years and now she has a son in medical school, another one trying to get into medical school, and another one headed for law school. She has another child who is in grad school with plans on being a music therapist and a third grader and sixth grader still at home.
“All of them at some points have worked with me. They literally know just about everything so if anything happens, they know how to run the front office,” she said with pride and a smile.
According to a report published in the Association of American Medical Colleges, the United States could see an estimated shortage of between 37,800 and 124,000 physicians by 2034. Of those, between 17,800 and 48,000 fall under the category of family medicine, general pediatrics, or geriatric medicine. While many graduating medical schools choose a specialty, Legal wanted a family practice.
“I remember driving to my pediatrician’s office when I was 18, right before I went off to school and sat there in the lobby with a tearful goodbye,” she recalled appreciating the relationship with her family doctor.
With a shortage of primary care physicians, Legall couldn’t see herself doing anything else.
“I love the fact that I can have a continuity of care. I get to see the wife, the husband, parents, the wife’s parents, their kids, their aunties, their best friends, and just really get to know the family and the family dynamic,” she said.
“It’s rewarding to see them grow up and when the children have children, I get to take care of them too,” she said.
Having the entire family under her care also provides her with critical generational information that can help with early diagnosis of hereditary issues for coming generations.
“Sometimes I have to be a psychologist, a second mama especially when the prognosis isn’t good,” the doc said.
She smiled when she said she doesn’t have to watch soap operas.
“I hear the Housewives of Humble or the Housewives of Kingwood in my office a lot,” she laughed, “but I love having the connections and hearing their stories. It’s very entertaining,” and she says it helps her also understand the family dynamic which can also add to their well-being.
“For those I haven’t seen in a while, it’s hugs and kisses, almost like a family reunion,” especially after the pandemic.
Spreading her wings
Not just satisfied with the single practice, the doctor who has known a busy schedule most of her life is expanding.
“My main office is in Humble. I just opened a practice in Midtown as well,” she said which is called Primary Care Service Evolution on 2424 Hamilton St., Suite 300, in Houston.
She loves makeup and lip gloss and turned that love into a med spa that will focus on aesthetics and healthy living.
She offers Botox treatments, fillers, and alternatives.
“I have this device that tightens your skin without the Botox,” she said.
Her patients are not all females.
“The guys come in for it as well. I call it Brotox,” she laughed.
After establishing her practice, Levall also wanted the opportunity to give back to the community.
“I began seeing patients at FamilyTime,” she said, and now she has decided to expand those services with her own nonprofit called, Integrity Cares. With the paperwork in hand, she’s ready to help even more.
“I would like to have a place for women that have been in abusive marriages, to have some transitional housing,” she added. “I feel so blessed to have that situation and give.”
She’s looking for scholarship opportunities to help them get education if they need it and a place to rebuild their lives. She will continue telemedicine and office visits for them as well.
In June, by her birthday, Levall hopes to open Michelle Evette MD Aesthetics and Wellness in Kingwood, a third business.
“We’re finishing up the buildout now,” she said.
To view the Integrity Family Healthcare episode and other Season 2 episodes, visit https://smallbusinessrevolution.org/small-business-revolution/big-hearts/season-two/.