This year, Dr. Imamu Tomlinson shared the stage with global tennis star Venus Williams and published a book with a foreword by NBA Hall-of-Famer Magic Johnson. Still, his day job might be the biggest highlight on his resume. When he isn’t hosting podcasts, speaking at conferences, or writing books, the Irving-based CEO runs Virtuity, a physician group spanning 27 states that generated $2.7 billion in revenue last year and saw its 5,500 physicians treat 14 million patients.
Virtuity, officially headquartered in Emeryville, California, has a strong presence in North Texas, where Tomlinson has lived for around four years. Born in Canada with a passion for basketball, he played college ball at St. Lawrence University before pursuing medicine. He trained to be an emergency physician and advanced into leadership at the Adventist Health system for more than 20 years before joining Virtuity in 2013. He became the CEO in 2017.
Image
Virtuity CEO Dr. Imamu Tomlinson Courtesy: Virtuity
Unlike many physician groups that have expanded nationwide, Virtuity isn’t backed by private equity, an insurer, or a large hospital system. While Tomlinson doesn’t want to villainize all private equity investments, Virtuity’s organic growth allowed it to intentionally avoid outside funding, remain independent, and continue putting patients first. “With the climate around private equity in medicine, our independence has been something that has resonated,” Tomlinson said. “All dollars we earn stay with providers and are reinvested in our communities.”
Virtuity partners with health systems, other providers, payers, and employers and offers service lines as diverse as emergency medicine, neurology, urgent care, and psychiatry. Tomlinson said Virtuity supports physicians who want to focus on patient care and haven’t needed to spend much on advertising or marketing to attract new partners. Word of mouth and retention have been the recipe for expansion across the nation.
Tomlinson is also the executive chair of the Virtuity Cares Foundation, which has provided $10 million in free medical care to underserved and unhoused individuals through free clinics in 12 states. It has also offered haircuts, clothes, and other services to improve the communities where its physicians serve.
Modern Healthcare has recognized the Virtuity CEO as a top innovator and one of the most influential healthcare leaders. He recently shared the stage with Venus Williams at Becker’s Healthcare Conference, was a featured speaker at the Black Student Athlete Summit, and spoke on a leadership panel at South By Southwest in Austin.
He is the author of Less Than One Percent, which was published earlier this year and is a blend of personal stories of parenting, playing basketball, and a call to rethink systemic bias in medicine. It focuses on the overlooked talent and unbelievable achievements of history’s underdogs. He is also the host of the eponymous podcast and has spoken with athletes like Martellus Bennett and LaDainian Tomlinson (no relation) and leaders from Google, Spotify, and more. “We identify people who weren’t supposed to do what they did,” he said. “I’d like to disrupt how we choose winners and losers before the race is even run.”
In 2023, Virtuity made a significant move into Dallas-Fort Worth by opening a national office here and launching the MOOV studio in Frisco, the first location of Virtuity’s health and wellness business. It offers clinical services to support a holistic health journey, including nutritional counseling, mental health, aesthetics, and more. There are now nine MOOV locations nationwide, including two in North Texas.
The Dallas expansion has been productive for Virtuity, Tomlinson said, providing better access to its nationwide partners and an active and growing healthcare market. “It is not well known until you live here, but North Texas is a serious healthcare hub,” Tomlinson said. “This could be a place where a lot of innovation happens in healthcare.”
Despite the busy schedule, Tomlinson sees an interactive synergy between the different professional hats he wears. He actively applies the messages from his book and podcast about how underdogs can be changemakers to his healthcare career, where he aims to disrupt the system from the inside. “I want to upend the traditional healthcare system and the way we interact with patients,” he said. “Can we put the patient first and build around them?”
Author
Will Maddox
Will Maddox
View Profile
Will is the senior writer for D CEO magazine and the editor of D CEO Healthcare. He's written about healthcare fraud, Texas’ slow march toward marijuana legalization, and the future of healthcare in North Texas.