Kathy Betts Joins CHA as Senior Director of Community Health Improvement

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), an academic community health system serving Cambridge, Somerville and Boston’s metro-north region, has named Kathy Betts as its new senior director of the Department of Community Health Improvement (CHI).

CHI, founded in 1989, provides a broad array of community health programs targeting populations at risk for health care disparities. Betts will oversee CHI initiatives that reduce health disparities and promote wellness, improve overall community health and, via collaborative research projects, tackle critical health issues and impact policy. Some of CHI’s programs include: Healthcare for the Homeless, Health Improvement Coalitions (Everett Community Health Partnership, Malden Community Health Improvement and Somerville Community Health Agenda) and the Cambridge Somerville/WIC Program.

Betts comes to CHA with more than 30 years of experience working for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where she most recently served as Assistant Secretary for Children, Youth and Families at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. She attracted national attention and received the highest award given to a state employee, the Carballo Award, for work on Medicaid financing for uncompensated care that resulted in over $600M in federal funds to the state. Betts has also worked at the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership and in several consulting roles in healthcare.

“Whether on the leadership team at EOHHS or spearheading an infant safe sleep campaign, Kathy has been an ardent advocate for vulnerable populations weakened by persistent poverty, illness or racial inequality,” said Mary Cassesso, CHA’s chief community officer and president of the CHA Foundation.

“As the only public health system in the state, CHA provides a vital service to local communities,” said Betts. “I look forward to working with an organization with a deep focus on improving overall health of underserved populations.”

Betts attended Boston College as an undergraduate and received her Master’s in Public Health from Boston University.

Cambridge Health Alliance is an academic community health system committed to providing high quality care in Cambridge, Somerville and Boston’s metro-north communities. CHA has expertise in primary care, specialty care and mental health/substance use services, as well as caring for diverse and complex populations. It includes three hospital campuses, a network of primary care and specialty practices and the Cambridge Public Health Dept. CHA patients have seamless access to advanced care through the system’s affiliation with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. CHA is a Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate and is also affiliated with Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Tufts University School of Medicine. For more information, visit www.challiance.org.