Harshini JayasuriyaHarshini 'Hershey' Jayasuriya, MD, FAAFP

Dr. Harshini Jayasuriya, fondly known as Dr. Hershey, completed medical school at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in 2011 and Family Medicine residency at the Michigan State University/Sparrow program in 2014. She also holds a certification from the Healthcare Leadership Academy at Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business and earned her AAFP Degree of Fellow in 2019.

In 2020, she founded BridgeCare Specialists of Michigan, where she practices family medicine and serves as a medical director. Here, Dr. Hershey partners with hospital systems, healthcare providers, and payers to reduce 30-day readmissions by virtually bridging services across Michigan. Through these services, BridgeCare provides temporary primary care, IV antibiotic management, and order management for patients going home after a hospital stay, with the goal of preventing avoidable re-hospitalizations.

Prior to opening her private practice, Dr. Hershey provided inpatient hospital and outpatient primary care as an employed physician and served as the medical director of rural family practice and urgent care clinics, where she implemented a successful comprehensive pain management protocol.

Past professional experiences include serving as an intern in the Michigan House of Representatives; a digital ad sales marketing assistant for CNN/Turner Broadcasting in New York City; an assistant to the vice president of MTV’s Think Campaign for HIV awareness, voting, and advocacy around teen health issues; and a research assistant at NIH Research in Beijing, China.

Outside of her current practice, Dr. Hershey is a part-time clinical educator of family medicine residents at the McLaren Greater Lansing program, and she serves alongside industry experts across the state on the Michigan Health and Hospital Association’s Physician Leaders Counsel. In this role she offers the young physician’s perspective on the continued evolution of Michigan’s hospital landscape. Dr. Hershey is currently affiliated with McLaren Greater Lansing Hospital and Sparrow Hospital.

Within the Academy, Dr. Hershey has served on the Advocacy Committee and as MAFP’s Minority Physician Delegate, New Physician Delegate, and LGBT Physician/Physician Ally Delegate to AAFP’s National Conference of Constituency Leaders (NCCL) in 2018, 2020, and 2021, respectively. She was elected by her peers in the Minority Physician Constituency to serve as the constituency’s alternate delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates in 2018 and the constituency’s co-convener at the 2019 NCCL.