Harbor Health Services, the Dorchester-based organization that operates two Dorchester health centers and Mattapan’s PACE program, will welcome a new leader next month.
Susan Yee will take the reins from board member John O’Hara, who has been serving as interim CEO over the last year. A San Francisco native, Yee has spent the last 23 years in New York, most recently as the COO of Community Healthcare Network (CHN), the largest group of community health centers in New York City.
Harbor Health runs five community health centers, including the Daniel Driscoll Neponset Health Center and Geiger Gibson Health Center on Dorchester’s Columbia Point peninsula, the first community health center in the United States.
In an interview, Yee said that Dr. Jack Geiger, who founded the center that now bears his name in 1965, was an inspiration to her. When a recruiter reached out to her about the position at Harbor Health and she learned that he was a part of its history, she knew it was where she belonged.
“I learned of Dr. Jack Geiger while studying public health when I was in grad school,” Yee said. “I ended up reading an article, and then I watched a documentary on him, and it was very inspiring. That is actually what prompted me to really dedicate my career to advancing community health and social justice, really trying to reduce health disparities in the capacity that I can and really focus on the community setting.
“The bulk of my professional career, over 30 years, has been really rooted in the health, human, and social service sector,” she noted.
“Just to be able to join an organization with such deep rooted history, not only with the Geiger Gibson Health Center, but also the Daniel Driscoll Neponset Health Center, is pretty amazing,” Yee said. “Harbor Health is really proud of that history, and we’re committed to being the strong, accessible, community-led health partner for the next 60 years to come.”
Patrick Preston, who chairs Harbor Health’s board, believes Yee is just the person to provide that commitment.
“John [O’Hara] has provided clarity and direction while we conducted our nationwide search for a permanent CEO,” said Preston. “The board, Harbor’s 600-plus staff members, and our 30,000-plus health center patients and Elder Service Plan participants will benefit from Susan’s expertise in providing exceptional care to everyone.”
On the latter point, Yee added: “Improving access is one of my top priorities. Making sure that patients get the care that they need when they need it in the most linguistically and culturally appropriate manner.
Harbor Health services many communities, and we want to make sure that we respond to their needs in the most appropriate way.”
In a press release, O’Hara said that his “goal has always been to provide the strongest foundation from which the next CEO can fuel innovation and growth.”
While Yee will bring with her the knowledge and skills that she has acquired throughout her career, she said she is “going to learn lots through my colleagues as well as the board, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to listen, learn, and see what we can improve upon, on the already strong foundation of Harbor Health.”
