LYNN — The Lynn Community Health Center (LCHC) Board of Directors has announced Brenda Rodriguez as its next chief executive officer.
Rodriguez is an accomplished health-care executive with a diverse and progressive career. She has served more than 10 years in community health centers, most recently in Lowell as chief strategy and financial officer, successfully instituting growth strategies and equitable health-care practices. She drives success through collaborative leadership and inclusion. Prior to her work in community health, Rodriguez led financial and operating practices in education and media firms and began her professional career at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
While Rodriguez’s professional accomplishments are outstanding, her personal story is deeply inspiring and one that is shaped by her experiences as a lifelong FQHC patient. She brings a passion for comprehensive, patient-centered care to our Lynn community. With Rodriguez, LCHC gains an amazingly qualified CEO who understands the needs, resilience, and aspirations of our patients because she has shared many of the same lived experiences.
“It is with great pride that we will welcome Brenda Rodriguez in January, the first bilingual woman of color to serve as our CEO, to lead us forward and be an inspiration to our city, our outstanding team, and the patients who keep us rooted in this mission,” Board President Kirirath (AJ) Saing said.
Rodriguez holds a Master of Business Administration from Duke University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Boston University.
The thorough six-month process included the guidance of executive-recruitment and hiring-consulting firm WittKieffer and the leadership of a seven-member Search Committee consisting of Saing; Drew Russo, LCHC Board vice president and City of Lynn personnel director; Lori Vinci, LCHC Board member and dean of health professions and human services at North Shore Community College; Nelson Woodfork, LCHC Board member and retired long-time public servant with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families; Bill Mantzoukas, co-founder, first executive director, and longtime Board member of LCHC and current owner of a health-care consulting and development company, institutional pharmacy, and two nursing homes in the Greater Boston area; Faustina Cuevas, life-long Lynn resident, current senior advisor to Mayor Jared Nicholson and the first diversity, equity, and inclusion officer for the City of Lynn; and Magnolia Contreras, former employee and board member of LCHC and current vice president of community health at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
While this process was conducted, LCHC was led by Interim CEO and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Geoff Pechinsky.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to express our deep and sincere gratitude to Interim CEO Dr. Geoff Pechinsky,” Russo said. “He has provided impassioned leadership and needed stability during this time of transition, always staying true to LCHC’s core mission. We are most fortunate that Geoff will continue contributing his considerable gifts and talents as our chief medical officer.”
In March, Dr. Kiame Mahaniah, who served as LCHC’s CEO for five and half years, was selected by Gov. Maura Healey and her administration to serve as the undersecretary of health services in the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, prompting the search for a new CEO to begin.
