Kennedy health center names new CEO
Photo | Courtesy
Steve Kerrigan
Worcester's Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center has chosen former Democratic National Convention CEO Steve Kerrigan as its new president and CEO.
Kerrigan will take over for Antonia "Toni" McGuire, who has been with Kennedy since 2008. McGuire announced last summer she would be retiring this July.
Kerrigan was born in Worcester, grew up and lives in Lancaster and is a graduate of Shrewsbury's St. John's High School. He’s a co-founder, board member and former longtime president of the nonprofit Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund, but is best known as a veteran of Democratic politics.
Kerrigan was the 2014 Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, helped run both of President Barack Obama’s inaugurals in 2009 and 2013 and was the CEO of the Democratic National Convention in 2012.
Kerrigan — who started his career as an aide to the late U.S. senator for which the health center is named — will take over at Kennedy on July 2, working alongside McGuire through a transition process.
Kerrigan said his work for Sen. Kennedy taught him about the importance of health access for all, and called the Kennedy health center a legacy of the senator’s work.
“The community part of a community health center means a great deal to me,” Kerrigan said.
The health center's board spent six months after McGuire's retirement announcement looking at exactly what the center needed before working with a search firm to find its next leader, said Valerie Zolezzi-Wyndham, the chairwoman of Kennedy's board.
"We've been thinking strategically about how to do this since then," Zolezzi-Wyndham said.
Kerrigan was chosen from among more than 100 applicants and a pool of 12 who were interviewed thanks to his experience in fundraising and being an ambassador for a cause, Zolezzi-Wyndham said. Fundraising and philanthropy will be a larger component of Kennedy's operations, she said, as services move from a fee-for-service model to accountable care organizations, where providers work with insurers to keep entire populations healthy.
McGuire began her career as a hospital cardiac monitor technician before rising through healthcare administrative positions. She worked at Worcester insurer Fallon Health and Boston Medical Center before joining Kennedy. Her tenure will last 11 years, something McGuire said was required as the center's board created a detailed plan for growing its services across the region.
"We knew we couldn't do that overnight, that that was a five- or 10-year plan," she said.
Under McGuire's leadership, Kennedy saw a 42% rise in the number of patients it treats, now at 28,000 a year. She also oversaw the center's name change — it was originally named the Great Brook Valley Health Center before taking Kenney's name — and expanded services in Framingham and Milford.
Kennedy now has three medical sites, two dental sites and two optometry sites, as well as six school-based health centers in Worcester and one in Framingham.
McGuire was twice named chair of the board of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, which oversees the state's 50 community health centers. She said she looked forward to working with Kerrigan in July.
"I'm really excited that it's going to be Steve because he has the skills and the ability to take it to the next level," she said.
Kerrigan joins the health center a decade after he helped found the Boston-based Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund, which benefits veterans and their families. He’s also a board member of the national nonprofit NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Kerrigan ran on a gubernatorial ticket with then-Attorney General Martha Coakley in 2014, when the duo lost to Charlie Baker and Karyn Polito, and briefly ran a campaign to succeed U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas in 2018.
Kerrigan said he saw the potential to lead the Kennedy Community Health Center as an opportunity to put his decades of experience to help with a cause he cares deeply about.
“I believe if you have the skills to make a difference, you have an obligation to try,” he said.
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Politics at work. I'm sure there was a nationwide search before he was selected.
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