STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Dr. Henry Thompson is a real jack-of-all-trades, however his ardour is caring for the folks of Staten Island.

Initially from Miami, Fla., Thompson obtained his first style of the Northeast when he acquired a full athletic scholarship to play soccer for the College of Connecticut. Whereas dwelling out his dream of enjoying soccer on the faculty degree, Thompson additionally pursued a serious in advantageous arts with hopes of attending structure college. Nevertheless, after graduating, Thompson began his first full-time job at Coca Cola, after which returned to Florida, the place he found that he didn’t wish to restrict himself to structure.

An avid learner and lover of information, Thompson additionally studied on the College of Miami, the place he acquired his grasp of arts diploma in liberal research in 2000 and his grasp of public administration in 2002 — all whereas working full-time at a big well being middle in Southern Florida.

Thompson — who began as a human sources specialist — continued to work on the well being middle for nearly 10 years, ultimately changing into chief compliance officer and vp of company affairs. Thompson stated he attributes a lot of his dedication to group well being care to his constructive experiences with well being facilities as a baby.

“The Jessie Trice Neighborhood Well being System, which has modified names many instances over time, is identical well being middle that my mother used to convey me to after I was just a little boy,” reminisced Thompson. “My mates used to make enjoyable of me as a child, as a result of I used to be by no means sick, and I used to be at all times jealous of the children who obtained to overlook college. However after I began working on the well being middle as an grownup, I lastly understood the affect that the middle had on my household, as a result of it was reasonably priced, accessible throughout the neighborhood, and I obtained nice care.”

Thompson relocated to New York in 2008, the place he continued to work with well being facilities in Brooklyn and upstate New York, finishing monetary turnarounds for services that had been experiencing working challenges. He was then supplied the place of interim CEO on the Neighborhood Well being Heart of Richmond (CHCR), which he readily accepted. Thompson formally grew to become the full-time CEO of Chcr in March 2010, solidifying his place and future house.

CHCR is a not-for-profit, Federally Certified Well being Heart (FQHC) offering ambulatory, outpatient care. The middle gives a full vary of medical and dental companies for kids, adults and seniors, together with podiatry, behavioral well being and vitamin. The ability was established in July 2006 and began with only one location in Port Richmond, conducting roughly 10,000 visits per 12 months. Now, CHCR operates 4 facilities throughout Staten Island, two in Port Richmond and two in Stapleton, and conducts over 41,000 visits every year.

CHCR’s progress is a testomony to Thompson’s tireless efforts to uplift each the well being middle and the Staten Island group. When Thompson joined the CHCR staff in 2009, he labored alongside 32 workers members. Since changing into CEO, he has quadrupled the scale of the workers, now using 112 folks. Thompson can be within the technique of constructing a brand-new, two-story group well being middle on Grove Avenue to exchange CHCR’s flagship location, which is not sufficiently big to serve the rising inhabitants.

“What’s distinctive about this new location is that we’re incorporating the centering being pregnant mannequin into the design and likewise creating an onsite birthing middle,” stated Thompson. “Sadly, Staten Island leads town and the state in unfavorable maternal and toddler well being outcomes, and we’ve been working to scale back these numbers via lots of our applications.”

Thomson stated that CHCR won’t ever flip a affected person away. The well being middle prides itself on inclusivity by taking all sufferers, no matter age, immigration standing, or capability to pay. CHCR ensures that its well being companies are high-quality, reasonably priced and accessible, providing a sliding charge scale based mostly on household dimension and revenue in accordance with federal poverty pointers, based on Thompson. Over 30 languages are spoken between workers members, accommodating the extraordinarily various inhabitants that CHCR serves, of which nearly 90% are immigrants and folks of colour.

Moreover, CHCR is dedicated to treating the entire affected person via each stage of life, conducting practically all companies in-house. Every affected person goes via quite a few contact factors with totally different workers members earlier than seeing the first physician, guaranteeing that the affected person has been totally examined, defined Thompson.

“One of many necessities of an FQHC is to be complete, which suggests we should serve all ages of the life course,” he added. “If we don’t straight provide a service {that a} affected person wants, then we have now to develop a relationship with an out of doors supplier to refer externally. Major care is a marathon, not a race, and we attempt to create significant, long-term relationships with our sufferers to assist them succeed down the road.”

Whereas main CHCR in all its endeavors, Thompson additionally determined to pursue his doctoral diploma in healthcare management from the College of Alabama at Birmingham. This system was 50% in individual and 50% distanced studying, permitting Thompson to proceed working at CHCR whereas learning. He began this system in 2013 and proudly earned his doctorate in 2020 alongside his spouse, Wedelie, and youngsters, Ury and Michaela.

For his accomplishments, Thompson is being honored with a Louis R. Miller Enterprise Management Award, which he’ll obtain within the Not-for-Revenue Businessperson class. The awards, that are offered by the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce and the Staten Island Advance, honor the reminiscence of Louis R. Miller, a businessman and West Brighton resident who was additionally a group chief.

CHCR is the definition of a group well being middle, as a result of it’s totally embedded within the Staten Island group. The ability prioritizes sufferers who don’t usually have entry to high quality well being care, makes itself a recognized and helpful useful resource, and actively collaborates with different group organizations, such because the Central Household Life Heart and Venture Hospitality.

Along with bettering the group day-after-day via his work at CHCR, Thompson can be a member of the Staten Island Financial Growth Company and the Staten Island Performing Supplier System. As well as, he serves as a trustee for Union Baptist Church of Montclair and is the chairman of the Well being and Wellness Committee for the New York Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. CHCR can be a Staten Island Chamber of Commerce Constructing Awards winner.

“Management has nothing to do with titles, status, or training,” concluded Thompson. “Management is about motion and with the ability to get issues completed, and I feel we’ve demonstrated that via our work at CHCR.”

Present occupation and title: Chief govt officer, Neighborhood Well being Heart of Richmond Inc.

Hometown: Orange, N.J.

Previous occupation/s and titles: Chief administrative officer, Brooklyn Plaza Medical Heart; chief compliance officer and vp of company affairs, Jessie Trice Neighborhood Well being Heart, Miami, Fla.

Neighborhood involvement:

— Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. Present member of the New York Alumni Chapter. Present place: chairman, Well being and Wellness Committee.

— Union Baptist Church of Montclair, N.J. Member of the Trustees Ministry.

A few of my life objectives embrace: To go to each continent of the world.

The most effective a part of my job: Capability to affect change.

1. Affected person affect – new service strains and applications.

2. Employees affect – creating profession progress {and professional} improvement alternatives.

3. Neighborhood affect – constructing new websites and increasing entry to main health-care companies.

Essentially the most tough a part of my job: Not having all of the sources wanted to implement concepts.

My life philosophy: Be the change agent for the change that you simply wish to see in your group.

I’m most happy with: Restoring historic houses.

One thing that nobody is aware of about me: I used to be a member of a choir.

The standard I like finest about myself: Studying from my errors and my thirst for data.

Private pursuits and hobbies: Accumulating artwork, studying, watching thriller films.

I chortle at: Humorous tales and movies.

I’m actually good at: Fixing puzzles.

I love: Self-taught artists and musicians.

Some necessary factor/s I would really like you to learn about me: What motivates me to work onerous? The concern of failing!