Long before she became a medical director and obstetrician-gynecologist serving women and health plans across multiple states, Dr. Lakisha A. Crigler was a sickly child in Moorhead who wondered how the human body worked and why some communities had so little access to basic medical care.
Crigler, a 1995 graduate of Gentry High School, grew up in a family rooted in Christian faith, education and small business in the Mississippi Delta. Her father, Mosie Crigler, owned and operated Crigler’s Barber & Stylist Shop in Moorhead, and her mother, Dr. Sammie M. Crigler, was a longtime educator and administrator in the Indianola Municipal Separate School District. Her grandparents, the late Louis and Ophelia Crigler of Moorhead and Sam Wash Sr. and Algena Jenkins Wash of Sunflower, were fixtures in their communities and helped shape her sense of responsibility to others.
Those values framed her ambition to study medicine even as she endured multiple knee surgeries as a young woman, experiences that deepened her fascination with anatomy, pain and healing. Summer research projects and a growing interest in the natural sciences reinforced her resolve to pursue medical school and a career focused on primary health care.
Crigler’s early experiences in the Delta left her keenly aware of the shortages of physicians and advanced medical facilities in rural communities like the one where she was raised. She recalls thinking about what could happen if a fatal accident occurred in a town with only a few doctors and the nearest hospital an hour or more away. That awareness, she said, solidified her desire to return her skills to areas with similar demographics and needs.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in biology, she completed her medical training at Meharry Medical College in Nashville and went on to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology. Board certified in obstetrics and gynecology and licensed to practice in Mississippi and Tennessee, she later added a Master of Business Administration from Auburn University, graduating with a 4.0 grade-point average. She says the combination of clinical and business training allows her to better navigate the changing landscape of health care.
Today, Crigler serves as a medical director for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee in Chattanooga, where she leads a multidisciplinary team charged with optimizing health care delivery, improving operational efficiency and aligning clinical decisions with organizational goals. She provides hands-on leadership to medical staff, synthesizes data to guide decisions and works closely with executives, external partners and regulators. In that role, she has helped automate utilization reviews to improve accuracy and reduce workload, cut nursing facility lengths of stay and identified modifiable factors that affect patient outcomes and discharge.
Her leadership résumé also includes service as interim lead medical director at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee and as perinatal quality collaborative medical director for the Mississippi State Department of Health and the Mississippi Public Health Institute. In those posts, she worked with hospitals and public health agencies to elevate maternal and newborn care, convened webinars and trainings, represented Mississippi on national perinatal quality councils and helped drive measurable reductions in morbidity and mortality through data-driven programs.
Even as she moved into health-plan and quality leadership, Crigler maintained her ties to direct patient care. She has served as an obstetrician-gynecologist in Paris, Tenn., where she was the sole physician at Signature OB/GYN, a hospital-owned practice established to expand local access to women’s health care. The practice delivers obstetrical and gynecological services to women in Henry County and surrounding areas so they do not have to travel long distances for routine treatment. As the founding physician, she managed day-to-day operations, supervised staff and worked closely with nurses and clerical employees to maintain a relaxed, open environment for patients.
“In God we trust, everything else we verify” is the motto she says has guided her professional life. She emphasizes listening more than talking, treating everyone with respect and integrating her Christian principles into the way she leads teams and cares for patients and members.
Crigler’s work also reflects a deep interest in efficiency improvement, project management and process optimization. Colleagues credit her with spearheading initiatives that cut review times, streamlined appeals and grievances and reduced inpatient and post-acute stays by several days. She views these efforts not just as business gains but as tools to make health care more affordable and accessible, especially for vulnerable populations.
A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Crigler is a founding member and treasurer of The Bluff City Medical Society Foundation, which annually awards scholarships to medical students. She describes that work as an extension of her family’s belief in education and a way to open doors for the next generation of physicians, particularly those who want to serve underserved areas. She is also active in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and holds Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and MCG certifications.
Despite her demanding schedule, Crigler makes time for travel, reading, decorating and listening to music from many genres, hobbies she said help her maintain balance. She recently visited Vietnam and Cambodia, trips that she said broadened her perspective on global health needs and reinforced her commitment to improving care for the less fortunate at home.
From the barbershop and classrooms of the Mississippi Delta to the boardrooms of health plans and exam rooms of rural Tennessee, Crigler sees her journey as part of a larger calling that began with childhood questions about the human body and fairness in health care. “As a young physician, I am part of the future of medicine,” she once wrote, expressing confidence that combining clinical skill with business knowledge will help her deliver high-quality, affordable care to the communities she serves.
