Teresa Holtrop

Dr. Teresa Holtrop is a native of Michigan, born and raised in Flint. She completed medical school at Michigan State University, then did her pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital of MI in Detroit. Thereafter, she worked as a general pediatrician in a Federally Qualified Health Center on the east side of Detroit and in Highland Park for 4 years, returning to the faculty of the Children’s Hospital General Pediatric Clinic in 1991 where she stayed for 24 years. During that time she founded and directed the Pediatric Mobile Team for 16 of those years, offering free pediatric services in a variety of community locations. This work sparked her interest in lead poisoning prevention, developmental screening, promoting childhood literacy and community advocacy. She is cofounder of the Detroit Lead Partnership. She was the first in Michigan to introduce Reach Out and Read into pediatric practices, a program wherein primary care providers talk to parents about the importance of reading daily to their children starting at 6 months old and also hand out an age appropriate new book to emphasize the importance of the message. As a member of the MI Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and its Immediate Past President, she has trained numerous practices in how to effectively screen children for developmental delays, autism, and mental health issues. She is currently the executive and medical director of Wayne Children’s Healthcare Access Program, a program that seeks to help medical practices who serve Medicaid-enrolled children to improve the quality of the care they provide. Much of this work involves bridging gaps between various resources in the community while also providing direct services including the FitKids 360 program, asthma home education services, and data analysis to help practices more effectively serve their pediatric patients and their families.