LYNN — Lynn Community Health Center (LCHC) CEO Dr. Kiame Mahaniah will soon join the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services as undersecretary of health services, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kate Walsh announced Tuesday.
“With years of experience as a physician, Kiame brings with him first-hand understanding of the need for equitable, high-quality, affordable care to create better health outcomes for our residents,” Walsh wrote in a statement.
Mahaniah joined LCHC as the clinic’s chief medical officer eight years ago. In 2018, he became CEO following his predecessor Lori Berry’s retirement. He is also a practicing physician in the field of addiction and primary care and the outgoing board chair of the Community Care Cooperative.
At the helm of LCHC during the pandemic, Mahaniah worked with the City of Lynn and a variety of healthcare organizations to establish a high-volume vaccination clinic at Lynn Tech — an achievement that Mahaniah listed as one of his proudest accomplishments during his time in Lynn.
In an interview Tuesday, Mahaniah said that he was excited, yet somewhat nervous, to begin serving the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
“It’s very scary to have a responsibility, even if it’s partial responsibility, for programs that are so fundamental to the health of the state. It is somewhat awe-inspiring, but overall, I’m very excited and very eager to put my talents to work at a state level,” Mahaniah said.
Mahaniah will assume his new role April 24. He hopes to help expand language access and convenient service for healthcare patients across the Commonwealth. He said that his time at LCHC opened his eyes to some of the language barriers non-English speakers face when seeking medical care.
In addition to facilitating the creation of a smoother system for patients who do not speak English, Mahaniah said that he hopes to help the state tackle its healthcare labor shortage — an issue that is not unique to Massachusetts. Last year, the American Hospital Association (AHA) wrote a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives reporting that 23 percent of hospitals were operating with a critical staffing shortage, and that 95 percent of health care facilities had to hire staff from contract labor firms.
“The ground zero [question] for us in healthcare is: how do we help build a workforce that can serve the needs of the state of Massachusetts? There are shortages almost everywhere. We have to figure out what we can do to guarantee a supply of satisfying careers, but also a staff that enjoys doing that work at a level that’s high quality so that the citizens of Massachusetts can really enjoy all aspects of their life,” Mahaniah said.
Even after he begins his work for the Healey administration, Mahaniah said that he will continue to regularly treat his Lynn patients out of his love for the city.
“Lynn lives forever in my heart, and I will continue to see patients in Lynn one day a week. I won’t be disappearing completely,” he said.
