Empowering Great Dames And Their Remarkable Ideas

Dr. Kimberly Nalda was the winner of the Great Dames Remarkable Ideas Competition in 2016.

By Steven Hoffman
Staff Writer

What does it take to make a woman a great dame?

Other great dames.

According to Hockessin resident Dr. Kimberly Nalda, one of the most important aspects of the Great Dames group is how it brings together women of all ages to empower each other.

“Great Dames is a unique group of dynamic women who come together to educate, inspire, challenge and support each other,” explained Nalda, a family medicine doctor. “It's more than just your typical networking group. Women in Great Dames are part of the group to authentically connect in friendship rather than get leads.”

One of the more innovative initiatives that Great Dames has brought to the community is the Remarkable Ideas Competition, which finds, funds, and supports women who have ideas that improve the quality of life and help people connect and collaborate with each other. Three years ago, Nalda first became involved with Great Dames through this competition, which draws women innovators from across the country.

For the 2016 competition, Nalda pitched the concept of Rekindle Family Medicine. She explained the concept:

“We can all agree that the practice of medicine has changed for the worse in the last 20 to 30 years, and many would blame the third party involvement of payers and insurers, and the increase in the administrative burden,” she explained. “This results in a patient experience of rarely seeing their actual doctor and when they do, they get 8 to 12 minutes of their time. For every hour seeing patients, doctors spend two hours doing paperwork. Many doctors are leaving Delaware or the practice of medicine altogether. We have lost the personal connection with patients and lost the humanity of medicine.”