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Lenny Kravitz aims to bring better health to the Bahamas | HLTH 2024
The rock legend talks about his journey to help people in his mother’s home country, the need to have a vision and the importance of helping people regain their dignity.
Las Vegas – There’s usually not this much screaming at a healthcare conference.
Rock legend Lenny Kravitz and Dr. Jonathan B. Levine talk about their work to improve healthcare in the Bahamas during the HLTH conference.
Of course, when Lenny Kravitz is walking onto a stage, the dynamic changes.
The iconic rock star came to the HLTH conference to discuss the work that his Let Love Rule Foundation has done in the Bahamas. The effort began with providing sorely needed oral healthcare to people in the island nation.
Kravitz, wearing a leather jacket and a shirt that was mostly unbuttoned, talked about the personal reasons driving his work. He has spent a lot of time in the Bahamas, living in an Airstream trailer on the island of Eleuthera. But he said he’s been going to the Bahamas since he was a child. His mother, the actress Roxie Roker, is from the Bahamas.
Kravitz has partnered with Dr. Jonathan B. Levine, a well-known oral health leader who owns a practice, JBL New York City. Kravitz said he invited Levine to spend some time with him in the Bahamas, and as they traveled around, they saw deep problems with dental care and medical care generally.
“People were walking around on a daily basis with chronic conditions,” Kravitz said.
As they traveled, Levine would ask people to look at their teeth, and some of what Kravitz witnessed was shocking. As Kravitz said, “What we were finding was beyond.”
Eight years ago, Kravitz and Levine launched their first medical mission to the Bahamas. Other trips followed, and Levine recruited clinicians from his practice and others to assist in the effort.
“Once I saw what we had down there, it was a call to arms,” Levine said.
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Henry Schein has partnered in the effort and offered valuable support, he noted.
Kravitz and Levine said the work has also helped ensure people get better overall care.
“This wasn’t about pulling teeth,” said Levine, who appeared with Kravitz on the HLTH stage. “This was about taking care of people and giving them their dignity back.”
Kravitz highlighted the importance of going beyond meeting the needs of those they are helping but offering them a chance to feel better about themselves as they received much-needed dental care. Kravitz praised the volunteers, saying, “People know how to serve in a way that makes the recipient feel dignified.”
“It just feels beautiful,” Kravitz said. “You’re giving them their health back, you’re giving them their smile back, their dignity. … they’re so thankful. Bahamian people are beautiful people. They’re very proud people.”
Kravitz said his dream is to eventually build a free clinic in the Bahamas, offering medical and dental care, open all year long.
When asked about the ingredients for the success in the efforts, Kravitz said, “Vision and execution.”
“If you can think it, you can do it,” Kravitz said.
But he also said the focus needs to be on helping those in need.
“It ain’t about you,” he said. “It’s about service.”
