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Dr. William Cleveland became Georgia’s first Black nephrologist, building clinics in underserved communities
ATLANTA — A trailblazer in medicine, Dr. William Cleveland has spent more than five decades changing lives across metro Atlanta.
As Georgia’s first Black nephrologist, he built a career serving patients whose needs were often overlooked, inspired by a childhood health battle that shaped his life’s mission.
Dr. Cleveland proudly calls himself a native Atlantan. “I attended Washington High School, which is still open, and Morehouse College, so I’m a native son,” he said. His roots in southwest Atlanta would later influence where and how he chose to practice medicine.
Cleveland’s introduction to healthcare came early in life when he contracted polio as a child. Because of segregation, he was denied access to hospital-based therapy.
Instead, his community stepped in.
“We had a brick mason who lived in the neighborhood. We had a plumber who lived in the neighborhood. We had a carpenter who lived in the neighborhood, and they came over and put a treatment facility in my backyard,” Cleveland recalled.
Neighbors built him a heated pool and massage space so he could receive therapy at home. That act of collective care left a permanent impression. The experience fueled his commitment to giving back to the very community that helped save him.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, kidney care options in Atlanta were extremely limited, especially for African American patients.
“In 1979 and 1980, there were only four dialysis centers in all of Atlanta,” Cleveland said. “Now they’re around 100, so you can imagine there was a great need.”
Recognizing that need, Cleveland opened clinics in underserved areas, helping shape kidney care in the specialty’s earliest days in Georgia. Over time, Southwest Atlanta Nephrology grew into one of the largest privately owned medical groups in the country, serving approximately 45,000 patients.
Dr. Cleveland’s impact has been recognized both locally and internationally. The Atlanta City Council honored his life’s work with a proclamation last year.
The International Olympic Committee selected him as co-medical director for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta and later presented him with its Distinguished Service Award for his work.
He also served for several years on the University of Georgia’s Board of Regents.
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