Lynn Health Center co-founder Hayes to leave lasting imprint

LYNN – When Stephen Hayes first began providing mental health therapy in Lynn four decades ago, he was a young liberal-minded psychologist fresh from graduate school and revved up to practice his chosen profession.Hayes, 64, had no way of knowing he would spend the bulk of his professional life in the city’s downtown, co-founding the Lynn Community Health Center and helping the needy, many of whom were de-institutionalized from the state’s mental hospitals.Today, the structure rising beside the health center’s headquarters at 269 Union St. will be dedicated the Stephen D. Hayes Building.”This really is an incredible honor. I’m very humbled by it. I think construction of this building ensures the mission of the health center will continue and be able to provide quality care for the needy,” Hayes said during an interview last week from his Salem home.Retired since 2010, serious health problems keep him from attending today’s ceremony, but his wife, Clare, and other family members were expected to accept the honor in his behalf.Hayes recalled the non-profit organization’s roots in 1971 in a cramped storefront at the corner of Essex and Chestnut streets. William Manzoukas, a prominent North Shore nursing home owner, had started the mental health services program under the government’s Model Cities grant program. Hayes was the first person he hired and together they explored new territory as a community health center. Manzoukas was also expected to speak at today’s event.”We were young and driven. In those days, the medical community in Lynn was threatened by our presence. We were even told if we hired a physician that doctor wouldn’t have privileges at the local hospital,” Hayes said. “But that’s all changed. We have 35,000 patients and 170,000 patient visits each year. What this expansion does is create more access and allows a realistic vision of holistic, integrated, behavioral health care.”Described as a visionary, teacher and healthcare professional extraordinaire, Hayes holds five academic degrees, including doctorates in psychology, psychoanalysis and humane letters, a master’s degree in psychology and an undergraduate degree in philosophy.”Back in 2010, when people started talking in a very informal way about naming the new building, they asked if I would consider that privilege, so I said whatever is in the best interest of the health center. That has always certainly been my position,” he said. “Even though the building will have my name, my history will always be present because the greatest reward is to serve the Greater Lynn community for over 40 years.”Hayes said the health center is inundated with patient requests. “The expansion to nearly 30,000 square feet allows the health center to hire more doctors and nurses and fill the growing need for health care in Greater Lynn,” he said. “If I could be there, I would be. I once said the only way I would leave this building was with a respirator. Well, that really has come true.”The facility’s 35,000 patients represent approximately one-third of the city’s population. Of those, about 3,500 receive mental health services. They are Hayes’ legacy. About 400 new patients pass through the doors each month.The health center also supports a satellite medical office in West Lynn, six school-based clinics, a pharmacy, a dental clinic and other facilities, for a total of 13 sites. In addition to offering primary medical care, it partners with specialists from North Shore Medical Center. A third of the staff is bilingual, an important asset in a city where Spanish is widely spoken, but patients communicate in 22 languages. The latest waves of immigration are from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, as well as war-torn African regions, including the Sudan and Somalia. Lynn is now home to more than 200 Bantu families.Lori Berry, the health center’s executive director, said the Stephen D. Hayes Building will enable the organization to expand urgent care, primary care, dental ser