'A village' of support behind Rayaf Health

'A village' of support behind Rayaf Health

The phrase, "it takes a village" came up several times during the recent grand opening of Rayaf Health.

Dr. Farhiyo Abdulle, co-founder and lead medical practitioner, said the journey to opening Rayaf Health in south Minneapolis leaned heavily on Elevate Hennepin support to fulfill the mission of a holistic, people-centered, and culturally competent women’s health clinic focused on providing care to diverse women.

Farhiyo, who has a background in large healthcare organizations, said she wanted to provide more holistic care, but large organizations had processes and rules that made that hard. She wanted to control the experience in her own clinic.

"In a large organization, you're missing the personal care of understanding the patient and what they need. At the end of the day, doctors are supposed to improve health," said Farhiyo. "I wanted to have a better control of that and the only way to do that was if I do it on my own."

But to do that, she needed to rebuild all the systems, legal compliance, human resources, and everything else that was taken care of for her in her prior roles at larger healthcare organizations.

To take on all the aspects of founding a clinic, she and her brother, co-founder Ahmed Abdulle, worked with Elevate Hennepin to access a total of seven advisors, participated in CEO Start Bootcamp, all at no cost thanks to investment from Hennepin County.

The owners worked with Ini Augustine, from Technologist Computers, to develop a cost-effective and secure IT Plan. John Yang from Digital Synergy helped with marketing, social media, and website development. Ahmed Mohidin, of Sigma Consulting and Training, refined their business plan and financial projections. He also referred the founders to Tamara Dahlvang from Small Business Dreambuilders who built an accounting and payroll system.

Anna Mazig from A.M. & Associates honed their operational framework. Anna also connected the founders to Davis Senseman at Davis Law Office to draft partnership agreements, employee contracts, and hiring guidelines. And as the opening day came closer, the founders worked with Dina Simon from Simon Says HR to finalize an employee handbook, offer letters, and an employee onboarding process.

Ahmed Abdulle said it was like having all the back-office experts of a huge health organization.

"The advisors all know one another, and I love that," said Ahmed. "If we had a situation or a problem, they gave advice but also connected us or noted a specific resource or advisor within Elevate Hennepin."

Ahmed said CEO Start Bootcamp was a great primer on business basics. And he’s looking to join another cohort as the company continues to grow, and new challenges or opportunities emerge.

Both Ahmed and Farhiyo said it was an overwhelming experience, and because it was no cost, they could invest more in providing great care to patients.

"I appreciate it so much. If I had to do this on my own, I can’t imagine how much money I would have had to spend with all these advisors," said Farhiyo. "I don't even want to know.

Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley said this kind of support is an incredible example of how the public-private partnership between Hennepin County and the business community brings better products and services to county residents.

"I really appreciate what we were able to accomplish in partnership with community and Rayaf Health," said Angela. "This was made possible by the visionary leadership of its founders and owners and through the great support that Hennepin County provided through Elevate Hennepin small business support."