South End Boston – Robert H. Johnson, executive director of Community Health Connections Family Health Centers in Fitchburg, has been named to replace Tristram Blake as Executive Director of the South End Community Health Center. Blake has been the lead at the health center for over 38 years along side its founder Dr. Gerald Hass. Johnson will be the third director to lead the organization in 40 years.
Johnson, a long-term resident of Cambridge, founded CHCFC in 2002 as a medical clinic. In six short years, he expanded its services to include dental, behavioral health and low-cost pharmacy care at four locations – Gardner, Fitchburg and Leominster – as well as ACTION, mobile and land-based health services.
According to SECHC Board Chair Kevin Lee Hepner, “Bob’s experience managing growth, his familiarity with federally funded health centers and his commitment to community owned and operated health care make him the perfect person to lead SECHC and take it to the next level of care and responsiveness.”
Originally formed as a pediatric clinic in 1969, SECHC today is a full service medical facility with a $9 million operating budget serving 15,000 patients in over 65,000 visits per year. Under Blake’s leadership, the health center built a state-of-the-art facility that spurred the renaissance of the Washington Gateway district of the South End. Today, the facility is also home to Pathways to Wellness, a holistic care provider with whom Blake established a strategic alliance in 2007.
Throughout the decades, social change, evolution of the South End community, health care financing, homelessness and economic shifts have been the backdrop against which SECHC has grown. Despite the turmoil and challenges, SECHC has maintained its commitment to its mission to remain independent and community-owned to best serve the needs of residents.
Although Blake will officially step down at the SECHC 40th Anniversary Celebration on June 9 2009, Johnson has already begun to shadow his predecessor and will assume a full time schedule in May.
“I am thrilled by the opportunity to lead this outstanding organization through these challenging times and to the next level of service to the South End and Lower Roxbury communities. Although Tristram leaves big shoes to fill, he also leaves a legacy of excellence in management, leadership and commitment that have paved the way for the next 40 years.”
South End Community Health Center is a community-based full service health provider in the South End/Lower Roxbury neighborhood offering a full range of primary care services, including: pediatrics, obstetrics / gynecology, adult medicine, dental, mental health, eye/ear, on-site laboratory, pharmacy, nutrition and WIC. SECHC is also the state’s largest provider of community health center-based mental health care. SECHC has a $9 million annual budget and serves a diverse population of 15,000 patients, in 65,000 visits per year.
