2025 Remarkable Women Nominee: Meet Dr. Jill Cottel
Mar 18, 2025
Making extraordinary strides and making a noteworthy difference in Hampton Roads. As part of a nationwide campaign by our parent company, Nexstar's Media Group, we'll bring you the the stories of four women in the running for the 2025 Remarkable Women Award.
YORKTOWN, Va. (WAVY) — For as lo
ng as she can remember, Dr. Jill Cottel has had tunnel vision to pursue a career in medicine.
"I always knew I wanted to be a doctor," she said. "I just knew from a child. So I remember having my first Fisher-Price doctor set with a little pretend stethoscope."
Those childhood dreams came to fruition, but the road to wearing a white coat was paved with countless hours of hard work.
"I just figured I'd go to the local school, which was UCSD, UC-San Diego," Cottel said. "And so, I went there for college and stayed there for medical school. And I always thought I was going to do pediatrics, and I don't know why, but my mentor going through college was a pediatrician. I had my first pediatrics rotation and realized that I was not going to be able to do it.
Cottel discovered her passion for internal medicine, and that's when her journey into primary care began. She completed her residency and later worked with several groups then opened her own practice in Poway, California.
She also spending several years alongside her husband volunteering in impoverished areas of California and Mexico with no access healthcare.
"My husband and I actually ended up starting our own nonprofit called Callsign Compassion," she said. "My husband was a private pilot at the time, so he would fly me and we'd take these trips down to, pretty far south into Baja, and we'd do health fairs where he would screen for blood pressures and blood sugar."
And her mission in medicine didn't stop there.
Cottel relocated to her husband's hometown in Hampton Roads, where she believed she could make a greater footprint, and she did, and still does today. She's now the medical director of Lackey Clinic in Yorktown.
"I've always had a heart for people," Cottel said. "When we did those health fairs that we were doing, and just being able to help people who wouldn't otherwise be able to get help, we had always thought about, 'Well, would there be some way to set up a free clinic?' ... And then, when we moved here and I found this place, I was like, 'Holy cow, somebody managed to do it.' And it's been around now for 30 years."
And they managed to do it.
She finds the most fulfilling part of the 30 years devoted to her profession not to be what she does, but who she serves. For Cottel, it's all about being faithful to whatever your called to do, and she knows her purpose is to save lives. That's what makes her remarkable.
"The patients, they're just very special people," she said. "They work hard and they're sometimes working several jobs. They're taking care of their family, sometimes aging parents, young children, just a lot of stuff going on. And then they're trying to get their health under control, too. So, it's a lot."
The 2025 Remarkable Women winner will be announced on the Hampton Roads Show April 1.She will receive a $1,000 donation to the charity of her choice and a free trip to Los Angeles. The winner will also be in the running to be named as Nexstar Media Group's Woman of the Year and be awarded $25,000 to a non-profit she selects.
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