About Me
Dr James Franklin Sistrunk
Dr. James F. Sistrunk was born in Midway, Florida in 1891. He graduated with honors from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee in 1919. After serving in World War I, Dr. Sistrunk practiced medicine in Dunellon before moving to Fort Lauderdale in 1922. As Broward County’s first black physician, he found a community of black railroad workers, farmers and laborers in need of medical care. Dr. Sistrunk and his partner, Dr. Von Mizell, solicited financing for Provident Hospital, which opened in 1938 to serve the city’s black population. Dr. Sistrunk served as Chief of Staff and Assistant Director of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He delivered 5,000 babies in Broward County during his 40-year career. Dr. James Sistrunk died in 1966. His Great Floridian plaque is located at the Von D. Mizell Library, 1408 Sistrunk Blvd., Fort Lauderdale.