Maryland startup taps barbershops to ease health care disparities

Growing up in Chicago, Andrew Suggs didn’t see much of his father, who was battling a drug addiction and in and out of prison. As a result, he missed the father-son give-and-take that helps shape a boy.

In its place, however, he had his barber shop, by tradition a source of solace and camaraderie and guidance for African-American males. Or, as Suggs called it, “the Black man’s country club.”

Now fully grown, college-educated and a successful businessman, Suggs has never forgotten that connection with his barber. And so, it is perhaps natural that he has started Live Chair Health, a Columbia-based company that works to reduce health disparities among minorities by connecting them with health resources at their local barber shop.

Live Chair began as a booking and appointment site for barbershops, adding smart technology to a sometimes old-fashioned business. But Suggs wanted to do more to use the barbershop connection he knew so well, and when his father died last year of a congestive heart failure, he took the plunge.

“My dad’s health was declining as our business was growing,” he said. “I started to research health disparities and what we identified was very startling. African Americans were overrepresented in almost every disease category for hypertension, diabetes and lung cancer.”

His death, Suggs said, “was the final catalyst in transitioning (his company) from pay and processing to looking to address health disparities by leveraging the unique social trust that barbers and hair-care professionals have with their clients.”

He started recruiting barber shops in late July, and although slowed by the pandemic, his company now works with some 35 barbers and salons in Maryland, most in Baltimore City and Prince George’s County. Suggs hopes to have 100 by year’s end, and to move into other states later this year and into 2022.

In April, the Baltimore-based health care innovation incubator 1501 Health announced that Live Chair Health was among the five startups – from 120 candidates – to help in its mission to address gaps in health care. It was another boost for Suggs’ company.

“They provide a cadre of members that help us develop our concepts, refine them,” Suggs said. The incubator also helps in other ways, such as with investments.

“They give us the opportunity to grow,” said Suggs.

One of the businesses participating with Life Chair Health is Kings and Queens Barber and Salon in Pikesville.

“We figured it was opportunity to help take care of the community – and a business opportunity,” said Christopher McRae, co-owner of the shop with his wife, Aisha. “We see it as a win-win either way.”

Kings and Queens held its first health-related event on a Saturday in mid-May, offering coronavirus vaccines, blood pressure screening and other health assessments. Eight people got vaccinated, McRae said, and about 15 others signed up for a health screening. Another day of vaccines and screenings will be held in mid-June, he said, and probably more to follow.

“As long as the weather is nice, we’ll keep doing it,” McRae said, explaining that the health offerings are held outside as there is no room in his salon. “We’re helping to provide people with a way to get their health care.”

Suggs said his model of using barber shops to reach African Americans on matters not related to a haircut dates back 40-some years and is still often used.

The problem, he said, is most of the programs haven’t grown because they rely on grants. When the grants dry up, so do the programs.

“The efficacy of the programs has been lauded over the years, but there hasn’t been a good business model,” said Suggs, who earned his MBA from Eastern University in St. Davids, Pa.

Under Suggs business model, the health care assessments and treatments are paid for by health plans.

Suggs plans to expand his business into Los Angeles in the next month or so and is hoping for 20,000 members in L.A. by next year. In Maryland, meanwhile, he hopes to expand to as many as 20,000 clients by the end of the year.

“We’re on pace for that,” he said.