Harold D. Cox
Associate Dean of Public Health Practice
Boston University School of Public Health
Harold D. Cox, MSSW, serves as the Associate Dean of Public Health Practice at Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and as an associate professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Dr Cox was chief public health officer for the city of Cambridge from 1996 until he joined the BUSPH faculty. In that role, he managed all aspects of the city’s health department, including public health planning, service delivery, and regulatory activities. He has coordinated a regional emergency preparedness response for 27 local health departments and co-chaired a regional “no tobacco initiative” in 19 communities. He also facilitated citywide discussions on homelessness, developed a health-oriented walking program in Cambridge, and helped establish a Domestic Violence Free Zone. Before working for the City of Cambridge, he was director of client services for the AIDS Action Committee of Boston from 1992 to 1996.
Dr. Cox is a member of the Statewide Commission on Health Disparities, president of the Massachusetts Public Health Association, and past president of the Multicultural AIDS Coalition. He is a recipient of the Milton and Ruth Roemer Prize for Creative Local Public Health Work from the American Public Health Association and the Rebecca Lee Award for outstanding commitment to public health from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Dr. Cox graduated from North Texas State University, where he received a B.A. in Psychology. He received his MSSW at the University of Texas in Austin.
John P. Cradock
Chief Executive Officer
East Boston Neighborhood Health Center
Jack Cradock has been involved in the planning, organizing, and delivery of health care in Boston Health Centers for the past 25 years. He graduated from the Boston College School of Management in 1967.
In 1970, he was hired by the Boston Model City Administration and the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital to establish the Brookside Community Health Center.
From 1976 to 1978, he was Executive Director of the South Cove Community Health Center in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood.
In 1978, Mr. Cradock joined the staff of the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center (EBNHC), first as an Administrative Director and then as Chief Executive Officer, a position which he holds today.
EBNHC is one of the largest and most comprehensive health centers in the nation; in 1997, the Health Center provided over 250,000 visits to more than 50,000 individuals each year. EBNHC has developed a number of innovative research, service and training programs which have led to East Boston’s recognition as a leader in community based services. One of those programs is the East Boston Elder Service Plan, a community based demonstration program for frail elders, part of the PACE national demonstration.
Mr. Cradock is active in the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, the National Association of Community Health Centers, the Kellogg Foundation Community Partners Program in Boston, and has served on a number of Community Boards including the East Boston Ecumenical Community Council, the Urban Edge Housing Corporation, the Christian Home of Reconciliation, the Boston Mayor’s Health Care Commission, and the Boston Public Health Commission.
Ruth Ellen Fitch
President and CEO
Dimock Community Health Center
Ruth Ellen Fitch began her tenure as Dimock Community Health Center’s new President and Chief Executive Officer in August 2004. At this historic community institution, formerly the New England Hospital for Women and Children, Ms. Fitch oversees a staff of 500 and budget of more than $25 million. Ms. Fitch was chosen for her strong background as a corporate and non-profit leader and her keen ability to analyze, develop and execute strategies to attain organizational goals and financial success.
Prior to her position with Dimock, Ms. Fitch was with Palmer & Dodge for 21 years, where in 1991 she became the first black female partner at a large Boston law firm. From 1974-1980 she was Director of METCO (the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity) in Brookline. She has also taught black literature at University of Massachusetts-Boston. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from Barnard College and completed her law degree at Harvard Law School, where she served for three years on the Law School Administrative Board.
Currently, Ms. Fitch serves on the Boards of Trustees for Roxbury Community College, where she is Vice-Chair and recently Chaired the Presidential Search Committee. She also sits on the Board of the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union. She has chaired the Board of Directors at Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries and served on the board of the Grimes King Foundation.
Ms. Fitch has received awards for achievement in the legal profession from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, the Woman of Achievement Award from the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston, the Charles Hamilton Houston Public Service Award from the Harvard Black Law Students Association, and the Distinguished Alumna Award from the Girls’ Latin School/Boston Latin Academy, where she has been a Commencement Speaker.
Ms. Fitch is a member of the Boston Bar Association and the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, and serves as Director and Executive Committee Member for the Boston Municipal Research Bureau.
Ms. Fitch grew up in Roxbury, just a few blocks from Dimock, and now resides in Brookline with her husband, Harrison. Her daughter, Robin, teaches in the Wayland school system and her son, Chip, lives in Lawrence with his wife and son.
Kate Walsh
President and CEO
Boston Medical Center
Kate Walsh became the president and CEO of Boston Medical Center (BMC) on March 1, 2010.
BMC is a private, not-for-profit, 639-licensed bed, academic medical center with a community-based focus. The primary teaching affiliate of Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical Center has approximately 5,000 employees, 1,300 physicians and an annual operating budget of roughly $1.5 billion. BMC is a founder of Boston HealthNet, a network affiliation of the Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine and 15 community health centers. Boston HealthNet, is an integrated health care delivery system whose partners provide outreach, prevention, primary care, specialty care and dental services at sites located throughout Boston's neighborhoods and Quincy.
In addition to the Medical Center and its affiliated health community health centers, BMC owns and operates the BMC HealthNet Plan, a statewide Medicaid Managed Care Organization with more than 240,000 members across the Commonwealth.
Prior to her appointment at Boston Medical Center, Ms. Walsh served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Brigham and Women’s Hospital for five years. During her tenure, Brigham and Women’s Hospital moved its patient satisfaction scores to the 95th percentile of benchmark institutions nationally, produced strong operating results based on consistent ambulatory and inpatient growth and set a new standard in patient-focused multidisciplinary care with the opening of the Carl J and Ruth Shapiro Cardiovascular Center.
She served previously as the chief operating officer for Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research.
Ms. Walsh began her career in health care as a summer intern at Brookside Health Center in the Boston neighborhood of Jamaica Plain. Upon finishing graduate school, she worked as a shift supervisor in the emergency department at Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center in the Bronx. From there Ms. Walsh moved to Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, Saint Luke’s – Roosevelt Hospital Center and the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation. She relocated to Boston and joined Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) as an assistant general director in medical services and was promoted to vice president of medical services and primary care and then to senior vice president of medical services and the MGH Cancer Center.
Ms. Walsh received her bachelor’s of arts degree and a master’s degree in public health from Yale University. She also is a member of the Board of Visitors for Northeastern University’s School of Business and is on the Board of Trustees at Emmanuel College.
Ms. Walsh, a native of Brookline, is married and has two children.
Celia A. Wcislo
President
SEIU Local 285/220
Celia A. Wcislo is the Assistant Division Director of the Massachusetts Division of 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) United Healthcare Workers East, representing 11,000 health care workers in Massachusetts and over 260,000 in nearby states. She has served as the President of SEIU Local 285/220 since 1981. Ms. Wcislo has campaigned steadily for broader health care access and improved wages and working conditions for health care workers.
While employed as a clerical worker at Boston City Hospital in the 1970s, Ms. Wcislo became involved in union activities by organizing democratic elections for union leadership positions. By helping to organize the 1980 strike at Boston City Hospital, Ms. Wcislo was instrumental in earning layoff rights for public workers.
Ms. Wcislo graduated from the Harvard Trade Union Program in 1984 and received her degree in Labor Studies from University of Massachusetts-Boston several years later. She is also a founding member of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization.