DR. ULRIKA HOLM-CHAPMAN OPERATES A SOLO OB/GYN PRACTICE IN A QUAINT, WELCOMING BUILDING ON CASTLETON AVENUE. THE SECRETS BEHIND ITS SUCCESS

BY JESSICA JONES-GORMAN • PHOTOS BY AMESSÉ PHOTOGRAPHY

Ulrika Holm-Chapman never had any intention of pursuing a career in medicine, but when the Swedish born OB/GYN was studying as an undergrad at the University of Hawaii, she volunteered at a clinic for the homeless and developed a passion for helping others in need.

“I was actually trying to avoid this profession entirely,” Dr. Holm-Chapman confided during a recent early morning phone interview, as she was en route to her West Brighton office for a full day’s schedule of office visits and procedures. “My mother was a physician, and even when I was just a child I realized how much dedication was required in the field of medicine. But I volunteered at a clinic for a span of six years, helping to care for disadvantaged patients who had little to no preventative care. At the end of each day, I really felt like I was doing something wonderful and meaningful, and that’s when I decided that this was the career path I wanted to take.”

Upon her graduation, Holm-Chapman enrolled in medical school in St. George’s University School of Medicine, and after two years of class work was assigned to an obstetrical rotation with a private doctor.

“A lot of the patients I worked with in the clinic were elderly, so I thought I would pursue geriatrics or maybe even a career in pulmonary,” Holm-Chapman said. “But during my clinical rotations, I was enrolled in a unique program which matched me up with a private OB/GYN. During the length of that rotation I worked with her during office visits and scrubbed in during surgeries. If she got a call for a delivery in the middle of the night, I was paged as well. She really loved what she did, and that made a huge impression on me as a young doctor in training.”

The doctor met her future husband, Staten Island native Dr. Kenneth Chapman, while attending med school and after completing their rotations, the pair moved to New York and Holm-Chapman did her residency at Brooklyn hospital.

“My husband was born and raised here, so it was a natural fit for us,” she noted.

The couple lived in Brooklyn and then Manhattan before relocating to Cleveland for a year while Kenneth completed his fellowship. When Drs. Chapman moved back to New York, Holm-Chapman took a position with a practice in Brooklyn, which she held for seven years.

“We’d always travel through Staten Island to visit my husband’s family, and whenever we’d pass this cute little cookie cutter building on Castleton Avenue, I’d tell my husband ‘I would love to practice in a place like that; it’s perfect for the field of OB/ GYN.’”

In 2013, when Dr. Kathleen Perry—the principal physician in that quaint gingerbread office—announced her retirement, Holm-Chapman interviewed and eventually took over the practice.

“I handle obstetrics and all major gynecological surgeries,” noted Holm-Chapman, who has privileges at both Staten Island University Hospital and Richmond University Medical Center. “I love teaching my patients— giving them helpful information and guidance about their health. And I get to be part of so many new lives; when you watch a tiny baby come into this world for the first time, take their first breath, and utter their first cry, it is such a wonderful and rewarding experience.”

Holm-Chapman has two daughters, aged 7 and 9, “which makes me a part time cab driver,” she laughed. “We’re always off to swimming or piano lessons.” But her children have also made the doctor more conscious of adolescent care and the need for it in this borough.

“There are not many gynecologists on Staten Island who offer adolescent care, but I think it is such an important part of this field,” she said.

The doctor’s ongoing advice to patients is to consistently take advantage of annual screenings, which help detect issues before they become a problem.

“Go for your annual screenings,” she emphasized. “Mammograms, pap smears, and colonoscopies will detect cancer at its earliest stage. It’s that kind of preventative care that really will help save lives.”

Ulrika Holm-Chapman
539 Castleton Ave. / 718.727.9700