EBNHC Welcomes New Leaders to Board of Directors

East Boston, MA, July 28, 2021—East Boston Neighborhood Health Center (EBNHC) is proud to welcome three new members to its board of directors. Erika Wilkinson, Josefina B. Silva and Mayra I. Negrón-Roche represent a dynamic cohort of women leaders who bring extensive experience in health care, finance and community-based organizations.

“We’re excited to expand our board with three new members who bring diverse expertise and insight to our work,” said EBNHC Board Chair Rita Sorrento. “We have worked diligently to ensure EBNHC’s board includes a variety of experts from both public and private sectors who can meaningfully represent our communities and the unique needs of our patient population. I am personally delighted to welcome such a strong group of new board members, and I look forward to serving alongside them.”

Erika Wilkinson is a health care attorney with a focus on government and regulatory issues. She is the Director of State Government and Regulatory Affairs at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Previously, she worked at the Massachusetts State House on health-care related issues. Prior to joining EBNHC’s board, she served on the board of the South End Community Health Center (SECHC) for seven years, which merged with EBNHC in 2019.

“EBNHC has a stellar reputation in the health care community and their leadership team is very effective,” said Wilkinson. “What excited me the most was to see the pioneering work they are doing with C3, the MassHealth ACO. I really loved the idea that EBNHC developed an ACO model that would best serve their patients and community health centers. That shows true innovation and leadership.”

Josefina B. Silva is Loan Officer and Vice President with East Boston Savings Bank, a $6 billion financial institution headquartered in East Boston. She has over 30 years of experience in banking in addition to working with nonprofit and community-based organizations. Her community involvement includes Malden Industrial Aid Society (board treasurer), Boston Local Development Corporation (board member), and Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation (loan committee member). She is also an active member at her local church, Boston Temple SDA Church. A native of West Africa’s Cape Verde Islands, Silva is pleased to advance EBNHC’s mission to serve marginalized and at-risk communities.

“COVID-19 brought to the forefront the inequities in the health care system,” said Silva. “EBNHC has been bridging this gap for more than 50 years and will continue to work tirelessly to improve the quality of care in the communities it serves.”

Mayra I. Negrón-Roche is Chief Operating Officer of Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA), a community development corporation that empowers community members to improve their lives through high-quality affordable housing, education, and arts programs. Overseeing IBA’s day-to-day operations, property management, real estate development, and asset management functions, Negrón-Roche applies her wealth of knowledge in business administration, finance, real estate, asset management, and operations. She too was previously a member of the SECHC board.

“One of our main priorities at IBA is the health and well-being of our residents,” said Negrón-Roche. “Through offering extensive resident services, programming and high-quality affordable housing, our work every day focuses on empowering residents through improving their social determinants of health and quality of life. EBNHC’s community-oriented mission to provide personalized, accessible, and multidisciplinary health services to all residents in East Boston and South End aligns with our own goals and aspirations for the community we serve. I am excited to help support and steward EBNHC as it continues to address the needs of East Boston and South End for many years to come.”

As the largest community health center in Massachusetts, EBNHC has administered more than 100,000 COVID-19 vaccines and more than 152,000 COVID-19 tests to date. While continuing to work on the frontlines of the pandemic, EBNHC is proactively addressing the longer-term impact of deferred preventive care and medical screenings that threaten the health center’s at-risk populations. These three board appointments bolster the health center’s bandwidth in aggressively preempting the impact of this burgeoning public health threat.

About the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center

The East Boston Neighborhood Health Center (EBNHC) has been a vital part of the community for more than 50 years, providing easily accessible, high-quality health care to all who live and work in East Boston and the surrounding communities of Chelsea, Revere, Everett, Winthrop, and the South End. EBNHC is the largest community health center in Massachusetts and one of the largest in the nation, now serving nearly 120,000 patients and employing more than 1,300 staff members. EBNHC is proud to be a 2020 Forbes Best-in-State Employer and a six-time awardee of the Boston Globe’s Top Places to Work.