Celebrating the MGH Institute’s history, welcoming new and returning Trustees, and looking to the future were the themes at the first Board of Trustees meeting of the 2022-2023 academic year. 

The Board, which meets quarterly, is comprised of 18 leaders who volunteer their time, resources, and expertise in setting the Institute’s strategic direction, stewarding its resources, and furthering its reputation.

New trustees who began their three-year terms are Patricia Palacios, JD, a partner at the Washington, D.C-based Steptoe & Johnson LLP law firm; Dr. Julien Pham, founder general partner at 3CC-Third Culture Capital, a Boston-based healthcare venture capital company; and Kyle Rabbitt, CPA, an advisor at the local office of accounting firm RSM. In addition, Trish Joyce, who worked for Merrill Lynch as a registered representative, returned to the board for a fourth term.

Presidents’ Hall

A ceremony was held to unveil a new location for portraits of the school’s two presidents who served prior to current President Dr. Paula Milone-Nuzzo: Ann Caldwell (1997 – 2007) and Dr. Janis P. Bellack (2007 – 2017). Presidents’ Hall is in 1 Constitution Wharf, located on the school's Charlestown Navy Yard campus, into which the Institute moved in 2019. 

During the event, Milone-Nuzzo said the building, which has several conference rooms, administrative offices, and an outdoor deck overlooking Boston on the first floor, will soon be the new home for the school’s growing research initiative that counts several labs and has a total research portfolio of $36 million. The board voted to approve adding upwards of 17,000 square feet of what will become a state-of-the-art facility.

“As someone who comes here often and sees the camaraderie and the collaboration, it's really a wonderful place for our administrators to get together and to do their work,” said Milone-Nuzzo, who thanked Trustee Jim Canfield and Chief Operating Officer Denis Stratford for their efforts to secure the 12-year lease. “We're so honored to be in this space and I'm so excited that we will be able to enjoy it for a long time.”

Ives Erickson told the audience of Caldwell’s work in raising $4.4 million, which included a $2 million gift from the Catherine Filene Shouse Foundation to purchase Building 36 and began the creation of a campus 25 years after its 1977 founding.  

“Ann convinced leaders at the time that the IHP should remain an important part of Massachusetts General Hospital because there was an effort to send the IHP to Harvard or Simmons or someplace else,” said Ives Erickson. “Ann put her business hat on and helped us to get our footing back within the system and began to develop some long-term programs.”

The board chair listed Bellack’s accomplishments that included hiring the IHP’s first provost and academic vice president, overseeing a doubling of the student population, renewing its focus on interprofessional education with the launching of the IMPACT Practice curriculum, and creating a robust research environment.  

“Jan's work on launching an interprofessional environment for learning and clinical practice will be what I believe distinguishes us,” Ives Erickson said. “Jan took to heart the Institute of Medicine report that said we should not be training in silos and she made it an absolute reality. So, we dedicate this hall today and we say thank you to these two wonderful leaders.”

After the unveiling, 15 of the school’s researchers presented posters and discussed their work with the trustees and other IHP employees. The researchers were Yael Arbel, Karen Chenausky, Annie Fox, Jordan Green, Tiffany Hogan, Julie Keysor, Teresa Kimberley, Cathy Leslie, Kathy Lyons, Ruth Lopez, Keshrie Naidoo, Prue Plummer, Sofia Vallila Rohter, Kathy Sabo, and Lauryn Zipse.

New Trustees

“Our new board members have joined us because they believe in the IHP’s mission. We are grateful to them and look forward to working with them,” said Ives Erickson. “And I am thrilled that Trish Joyce has returned to our board because she is a thoughtful leader who brings history, leadership, and wisdom to the Institute.” 

Trish Joyce, a nine-year veteran of the board, returns after taking a required one-year break. The daughter of Dr. Charles A. Sanders, one the Institute’s founders, she has a long-time relationship with the school. “I welcome the opportunity to be back on the board,” she said. “The IHP is very special to my father, and I am honored to be able to continue his legacy.”

That legacy includes the Charles A. and Ann Sanders IMPACT Practice Center, where students provide more than $1 million in free care annually to people who have exhausted their insurance benefits, and the Charles and Ann Sanders Interprofessional Scholarship that is awarded to several students each year.

Patricia Palacios brings extensive experience in regulatory matters in several industries, including higher education. A “Rising Star” in the legal world since 2014 who recently was selected by DCA Live for inclusion in its list of emerging women leaders in private practice, she plans to focus on the Institute’s efforts to have a campus that reflects the country’s increasingly multiracial population.

“As a woman of color, I'm particularly interested in ensuring that there's a diverse student body, faculty, and leadership at the school,” said Palacios, whose family originally is from Cuba and who sits on her law firm’s diversity committee. “I am deeply passionate about education and health care because both are critical components for the success of any community. I want to ensure that the Institute provides the best potential education for students, so I am thrilled to have the opportunity to serve as a trustee for an institution that educates graduates to be exemplary leaders.” 

Julien Pham has over 15 years of leadership experience in clinical settings and in emerging medical innovation companies. A physician who formerly worked at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and was a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, Pham said he wants to focus on advancing the school’s focus on innovation that expanded during the pandemic.

“When we want to innovate in healthcare, it’s not just about the people who can make important decisions about capital allocation for the health system,” said Pham, who initially was contacted about joining the board by Dr. Kimberly Truong, the school’s chief diversity officer, with whom he shares a passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion. “Nurses, nurse practitioners, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and genetic counselors all play a big role. I'm excited to see how the organization can go to the next frontier, not only training highly qualified healthcare professionals, but teaching them to think a little bit differently outside the box to truly improve patient care and outcomes.” 

Kyle Rabbitt will focus on strengthening the partnership between RSM and the Institute that began in 2020, when the multinational accounting firm’s charitable foundation gave a three-year grant to the school’s Speech and Language Literacy (SAiL) Lab to launch Raising Educational Achievement in Charlestown (REACH), an educational program for students in grades 1–3 at Harvard-Kent Elementary School.

“I want to utilize my years of experience to assist the Institute’s strategic direction and support its development efforts,” said Rabbitt, a member of RSM’s Transaction Advisory Healthcare team where he has experience with M&A transactions in many health care industries including physical therapy, home health, and behavioral health. He also has a personal connection with the school: his fiancé, Dr. Kristen Andrew, received her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the IHP in 2013 and works in Mass General’s Department of Physical Therapy.