Bringing a Young Perspective to Board of Trustees

Anthony Fitzgerald Paredes is advocating for the needs of students and recent graduates as the newest member of the MGH Institute’s Board of Trustees. 

Paredes, who graduated in 2020 with a Master of Science in Nursing degree, recently began a three-year term as the board’s inaugural alumni trustee, the board’s youngest-ever member. Being involved with a governing body is nothing new for Paredes. He served as president of the Student Government Association, where he had the opportunity to work closely with President Paula Milone-Nuzzo.

“We developed a great relationship very quickly,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with her again as well as also learning from other trustees and collaborating with them to achieve the Institute’s goals.” 

Having graduated less than two years ago, Paredes joined the board’s Academic and Student Affairs Committee. “I wanted to continue to be involved with student affairs and bring to life the voices of IHP students,” he explained. He also joined the Nominating and Governance Committee to be part of how the board operates and help develop its future direction. 

Paredes was drawn to health care as a teenager living in Queens, New York, where his family settled after emigrating from Ecuador. “I remember going to the doctor’s office with my grandfather, who only spoke Spanish, and we waited in line for hours with other Spanish-speaking families who were waiting to see the one medical provider who also spoke Spanish,” Paredes said. “I realized then that I wanted to help people in underserved communities.”

After graduating with a biology degree from Syracuse University, where he worked at a neighborhood health clinic serving primarily underinsured and/or non-English-speaking patients, Paredes enrolled in the Master of Science in Nursing program in 2017. While an IHP student, Paredes worked as a part-time RN at Casa Esperanza, Inc.’s Conexiones CSS program, the state’s first bilingual/bicultural clinical stabilization services program that provides addiction treatment and stabilization services for people in early recovery from substance-abuse disorders. 

After being hired as a full-time nurse practitioner upon graduation, he created a medical intake department to identify patients with common co-morbid conditions and integrate medical care into their recovery plans. In addition, he helped the organization land two grants worth $182,500 to purchase new medical equipment for its Roxbury and Tewksbury campuses. 

“We are so pleased with Anthony and his innovative approach to integrated care,” said Shannon Barrett, the program director at Casa Esperanza’s Tewksbury division. 

Paredes sees his job as a continuation of his drive to provide comprehensive care to all people. “The patient population we see are primarily Spanish-speaking individuals who might not have seen a medical provider in years—or maybe even ever,” he said. “I’m a big believer in second chances and giving people opportunities to turn their lives around.” 

He recently hired Dimitri Lamisere, BSN ’21, to work at the clinic and has plans to enable current nursing students to work there or get clinical experience—yet another IHP connection he’s developing. “The most exciting part for me,” Paredes said, “is that I have the opportunity to see the future unfold and become a part of the IHP’s history, both as an alum and as a trustee.”