Dr. Edith P Mitchell of Newtown Square, who transformed care for disadvantaged patients at Thomas Jefferson University and elsewhere, is also the first woman physician to become a brigadier general in the Air Force, writes Gary Miles for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The civil rights pioneer died Jan. 21 at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby.

Dr. Mitchell was a “monumental contributor” to cancer and gastrointestinal research and treatment.

She also championed minority healthcare providers and medically underserved communities.

Her 50-year career included evaluating hundreds of new drugs and treatments as she worked to figure out how disadvantaged patients could be better served.

“We all know that there is not racial equality in this country,” she told The Inquirer in 2015, “and the lack of racial equality extends into health care.”

Dr. Mitchell became part of Jefferson in 1995, serving as a clinical professor of medicine and medical oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College. 

She directed the Center to Eliminate Cancer Disparities and was known for her humility, wit, compassion, and dedication, as well as her medical achievements.

 “Dr. Mitchell’s impact will continue to be seen and known for generations to come,” her colleagues said in a tribute.

Read more about the life of Dr. Edith P Mitchell in The Philadelphia Inquirer.