2024 Power 100: Lou Brady

A man wears a blue suit with a blue-striped tie.

Photo | WBJ File Lou Brady, president & CEO of the Family Health Center of Worcester

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Lou Brady Title President & CEO Company Family Health Center of Worcester Employees 425 Residence Worcester Colleges University of Massachusetts Lowell, Northeastern University Read all the Power 100 profiles here
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After the coronavirus pandemic threw an already strained healthcare system into chaos, Lou Brady appears to have pulled FHCW out of a deep dive and turned around a once-tenuous financial position.

When Brady joined FHCW in 2019, the nonprofit had 16 locations providing affordable health services to underserved communities in Greater Worcester. But by September 2022, the center was closing its Webster and Southbridge locations, laying off 35 employees, and furloughing 15. In turn, a group of the center’s medical personnel sought to oust Brady, but FHCW’s board stood by him in October 2022, upholding his position as president and CEO.

In response to the health center’s struggling finances and employee unrest, Brady and FHCW leadership implemented the Better Together initiative in November 2022, a 120-day improvement plan designed to streamline operations and reduce costs.

Though 2022 was strenuous for the center, FHCW’s 2022 annual report detailed a year generating $57.5 million in revenue while serving over 30,000 individuals in 77 languages through 131,812 clinical visits. In 2022, the center generated $44.3 million in savings to Medicaid and $55.5 million in savings to the overall health system.

After the Better Together initiative ended in March 2023, the center had maintained 30+ days of cash on hand since January 2023, reduced call center wait times by 40% in 180 days, improved billing collections from 58% to 85%, raised more than $24,000 through its annual appeal fundraiser, and increased pay for all staff.

Following the initiative, FHCW reported a $1.2-million budget surplus for its 2023 fiscal year. In 2023, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services awarded the center $2.9 million through its Community Health Center capital grant investment program after denying FHCW’s requisition for $7.2 million in emergency funds in 2022.

Read all the Power 100 profiles here.