The Legacy of our Founder

Born in Tennessee, Coyness L. Ennix, Jr, M.D, was the founder and Board Chairman of California Medicine Coalition. Dr. Ennix received his medical degree from Meharry Medical College, and his surgical training in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at The Cleveland Clinic Educational Foundation in Ohio, and postgraduate cardiac surgery training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He served on the Board of Trustees at his alma mater, Meharry Medical College, for the past decade.

He practiced medicine in Oakland and the East Bay for the majority of his career, leaving an indelible mark on the medical and education community in Oakland. In 1973, as a young attending physician in the emergency room at Highland Hospital, he was the surgeon on call when Oakland Superintendent Dr. Marcus A. Foster and Deputy Superintendent Dr. Bob Blackburn arrived after the fatal shooting by the Symbionese Liberation Army. Dr. Ennix managed to save Dr. Blackburn’s life. Decades later, Dr. Blackburn invited Dr. Ennix to the board of the Marcus Foster Education Institute. For the next 20+ years Dr. Ennix supported the organization to award scholarships and support educational programs for thousands of Oakland students, educators and families.

He was clear in his convictions and often cited his father, and growing up in front of Meharry Medical College as guiding forces in his relentless pursuit of justice. The Ennix family played a major role in Nashville, Tennessee to advance civil rights and health care access in the United States. His father, Coyness Ennix Sr. was one of 14 Black attorneys in Nashville and served as John Lewis' attorney. He was instrumental in getting John Lewis released from jail six times so he could continue the fight for a more inclusive and equitable society. Dr. Ennix has continued this legacy in Nashville serving on the board of trustees at Meharry Medical College for the past decade.

It was this legacy that shaped Dr. Ennix’s lifelong commitment to justice. In 2008 he served on OPSHD’s medical advisory panel to improve hospital accountability in coronary bypass surgery reporting. In recent years, his advocacy for a path to medicine for community college students catalyzed the creation of the California Medical Scholars Program now implemented across California. He founded the California Medicine Coalition out of that effort, dedicated to increasing the diversity and supply of California’s primary care physician workforce.

In the week before his passing he was “scrubbing in” to surgeries at John Muir Hospital in Concord. Dr. Ennix above all was a tremendous human being, father, grandfather and leader. He cared deeply about the well-being of our communities, and it is my honor today to hold this adjournment in his memory. May his legacy continue and serve as an inspiration to all.