Howard Brown Health Center is due to make significant changes in the following weeks, including possibly hiring a new leader, according to sources contacted by Windy City Times.
Founded in 1974, the health center has been rocked by scandals and significant changes in leadership and key employees.
Following the departure of its last president and CEO, Jamal Edwards in August 2012, Karma Israelsen, then board chair, took over his post in an interim capacity.
Israelsen’s investiture as head of one of the country’s few LGBT health centers was severely criticized by many on the grounds of her lack of experience with the healthcare industry. Her appointment came with an annual salary of $180,000. While not as high as that of Edwards, who was equally inexperienced and yet garnered $265,000, the figure nevertheless raised concerns.
Since taking over, Israelsen and HBHC have been promising the appointment of a new CEO. At first, this was to happen in the summer-fall of 2012, but the appointment has been repeatedly pushed back. Adding to the complications was the postponement of the new Aris Health Center, scheduled to open in March of 2012 ( it opened in September ), and further changes in the location of the Broadway Youth Center ( BYC ).
The BYC has faced a rocky relationship with its surrounding neighborhood in Lakeview. In November, it faced a particularly tumultuous meeting with South East Lake View Neighbors, on the future of its current location at Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ, 615 W. Wellington Ave. Following that, Lara Brooks, executive director of BYC, stepped down from her post in mid-December; her post has been taken over by Imani Rupert.
So far, HBHC’s chief leadership has often been picked from within its own ranks, and its last three CEOs have all been people without any experience in healthcare, a fact acknowledged by Duke Alden, current board chair, who insisted that this will change with a new CEO.
When HBHC was founded, it was a unique organization, one of the very few in the country and the world catering exclusively to gay health concerns. It has weathered a number of storms, both in the shape of health crises like AIDS and a revolving door in leadership and financial scandals, all of which has contributed to a worsening of its reputation.
HBHC now faces a vastly different world than that of 40 years ago. The Affordable Care Act will mean significant changes in regulations and coverage, and the idea of LGBTQ-specific healthcare is no longer an exceptional anomaly, although still rare in many parts of the country.
The weeks and months ahead will tell whether HBHC will be able to fit into a different landscape or fall further behind.
Originally published in Windy City Times