Nelson L. Adams III, M.D.

National President

Member of Region III

A native of Miami, Florida is a medical leader passionately committed to eliminating racial and ethnic inequality in health.  An exceptional achiever, earning high recognition both scholastically and among medical peers, Dr. Adams is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Honorary Doctor of Laws.

A board certified obstetrician-gynecologist, Dr. Adams has a vibrant and challenging practice in North Miami-Dade County.  He was the first African-American Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the first African-American Chief of Staff of North Shore Medical Center.  In 1992, he founded the Maternal Child Health Initiative (MCHI), an award-winning model for providing care to at-risk, low-income, pregnant women.  The highly successful MCHI utilized a multi-tiered intervention that addressed the psychological, social, and medical needs of expectant mothers.

Currently, Dr. Adams is the Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Jackson North Medical Center and President of N.L. Adams, M.D. and Associates.  He is also President and Chairman of Access Health Solutions (AHS), a managed care company providing services in 26 counties in Florida.  Under Dr. Adams’ leadership and through his keen focus on both access and quality, AHS has grown from humble beginnings to serving more than 94,000 beneficiaries with 525 healthcare providers.

Throughout his career, Dr. Adams’ leadership and community service has reached across academic, religious, fraternal, and charity institutions.  He is the past Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Greater Miami Region of the National Conference of Christian and Jews, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Florida International University Foundation, Meharry Medical College, Barry University, The Children’s Trust and until recently, the Miami Art Museum.  He is also a member of the Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity—the “Boulé,” and a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.  Additionally, he is an active member of the historic St. John Baptist Church where he serves as Deacon and Chairman of the Board of the church’s Community Development Corporation. 

Dr. Adams has held many positions of leadership in organized medicine at the local, state and national levels.  He is the past President of the local and state NMA societies in Florida and has served as Vice President, Secretary of the House of Delegates, and member of the Board of Trustees of the National Medical Association. 

An alumnus of Howard University, Dr. Adams has been recognized in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities.  He earned his medical degree at Meharry Medical College, where he was named Student of the Year in his freshman class and served as President of the Meharry Chapter of the Student National Medical Association.  Dr. Adams completed his four-year residency in 1982 in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Emory University.  Prior to returning home to Miami, Dr. Adams practiced in Mobile, Alabama for three years, where he was a founding member of the Bay Area Medical Association, an affiliate society of the National Medical Association (NMA).

Dr. Adams is married and has two children.