LCHC Announces Dr. Hanna Haptu as Chief Medical Officer

Pioneering physician, public health leader, and former refugee will help shape the next chapter of clinical excellence, innovation, and health equity at LCHC

LYNN, MA — Lynn Community Health Center (LCHC) is proud to announce the appointment of Dr. Hanna Haptu as Chief Medical Officer, recognizing a physician whose extraordinary journey, clinical leadership, and unwavering commitment to underserved communities embody the very heart of the health center’s mission.

For more than two decades, Dr. Haptu has been a trusted physician, innovator, mentor, and advocate at LCHC. Her appointment represents both a celebration of her remarkable contributions and an important step forward in the organization’s commitment to advancing clinical excellence, strengthening integrated care, and eliminating health disparities.

Dr. Haptu’s story is one of resilience, purpose, and possibility. Having experienced displacement as a refugee, she brings a deeply personal understanding of the barriers that vulnerable individuals and families face in accessing healthcare. That lived experience has helped shape a career dedicated to ensuring that every patient, regardless of background, language, income, or circumstance, receives compassionate, high-quality care.

Throughout her tenure, Dr. Haptu has been at the forefront of groundbreaking clinical and public health initiatives. She helped pioneer LCHC’s community-based tuberculosis program, establishing a model of care that brings specialized treatment directly into the community. Her leadership in HIV prevention and treatment, infectious diseases, refugee health, and public health has extended well beyond the walls of LCHC, contributing to statewide efforts to improve outcomes for populations too often overlooked by traditional healthcare systems.

Her contributions reflect a fundamental belief: that healthcare innovation is most meaningful when it reaches those who need it most.

As Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Haptu will lead LCHC’s medical services at a pivotal moment in the evolution of community healthcare. Her priorities include strengthening clinical excellence, advancing integrated medical and behavioral healthcare, improving care coordination, reducing health disparities, and embracing emerging technologies that expand access and improve outcomes.

Equally important is her commitment to the people who deliver care.

Dr. Haptu has listened closely to providers and care teams, acknowledged the very real challenges they face, and begun translating those conversations into meaningful action. Through efforts to strengthen clinical leadership, improve provider support, advance care coordination, and address administrative burdens, she is helping to lay the groundwork for a more responsive and supportive clinical environment. She recognizes that lasting transformation requires sustained collaboration, accountability, and a willingness to continually improve how the organization supports those closest to patients.

Her leadership also embraces the responsible use of emerging technologies to enhance clinical decision-making, improve access, and support the delivery of more proactive, equitable care.

For LCHC CEO Brenda Rodriguez, the appointment is both a recognition of exceptional leadership and an affirmation of the organization’s future.

“Dr. Haptu represents so much of what makes community health centers extraordinary. She is a brilliant physician, a pioneering public health leader, and someone whose personal journey has given her an extraordinary understanding of the people we serve.

“She has demonstrated that clinical excellence and compassion are not competing priorities. They are inseparable. She understands that innovation must serve a purpose, that our providers and care teams deserve the support they need to thrive, and that the measure of our success is ultimately the difference we make in people’s lives.

“At this important moment in our organization’s history, we need leaders who are courageous enough to challenge what is, thoughtful enough to listen, and determined enough to build what can be.

“Hanna brings all of that and more.

“She believes in our vision. More importantly, she believes in all of us. And I believe deeply in her.”

Dr. Haptu’s appointment reflects LCHC’s continued investment in physician leadership, clinical innovation, and the development of a healthcare delivery model that is more integrated, accessible, and responsive to the needs of its patients and community.

As LCHC looks toward its next chapter, her leadership will help advance an enduring commitment: ensuring that exceptional healthcare is not a privilege, but a promise to every person the organization serves.

About Lynn Community Health Center

Lynn Community Health Center is a federally qualified health center serving more than 46,000 patients annually through comprehensive primary care, behavioral health, dental, vision, pharmacy, and other essential services. With more than 700 employees and over 30 service locations, LCHC is committed to advancing health equity, expanding access, and delivering compassionate, high-quality healthcare to the communities it serves.