Boston Medical Center has appointed two new executives, effective immediately.
Here are eight things to know about the leaders.
Thea James, MD, was appointed to the newly created role of vice president of mission and associate CMO.
1. In her new role, Dr. James, an emergency medicine physician, will work closely with caregivers throughout BMC. She will have primary responsibility for managing the medical center's strategic relationships and partnerships with organizations including community agencies, housing advocates, community mental health providers, as well as substance abuse and violence prevention programs, according to BMC.
2. Aside from these new responsibilities, Dr, James will continue to serve as director of the Violence Intervention Advocacy Program, which she co-founded in 2006. VIAP is a co-founder of the National Network of Hospital Based Violence Intervention Programs which has grown to more than 28 programs throughout the U.S. and internationally, according to BMC.
3. Dr. James joined BMC in 1995. She is an associate professor of emergency medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, and has held several leadership roles at BMC, including serving as president of the BMC medical and dental staff.
4. In addition to her work at BMC, Dr .James co-founded Unified for Global Healing, a foundation aimed at improving health outcomes worldwide. As a supervising medical officer on the Massachusetts Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT-MA1) she has provided emergency medical care to victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City and earthquake victims in Iran and Haiti.
Lisa Kelly-Croswell was promoted to senior vice president and chief human resources officer.
5. In her new role, Ms. Kelly-Croswell will oversee human resources, occupational and environmental health and volunteer services at BMC. According to the medical center, she will play a key coordinating role across the BMC health system, which includes the Boston HealthNet community health center network and the BMC HealthNet Plan, "to further integrate and strengthen connections in order to continue to provide patients with seamless, high-quality care."
6. Ms. Kelly-Croswell has been focused on progressing organizational and leadership development practices, and rebuilding human resources services and systems as foundations to advance BMC's strategic plan, according to BMC. "Lisa has been instrumental in developing new ways to ensure that our people have the tools, support and working environment needed to advance our mission and achieve our goals," Kate Walsh, president and CEO of BMC, said in a news release. "She will play a key role in further integrating the organizational strengths, cultures and talents of our staff across our healthcare system to enhance the best possible patient care and service to our community."
7. Ms. Kelly-Croswell has 25 years of experience in human resources leadership roles. Prior to joining BMC in 2013, she was senior vice president of human resources and corporate services at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and has also served as senior vice president, human resources of the healthcare division at Cigna. She has spent a large portion of her career in other human resource organizations, including roles at Monsanto Company and Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo.
8. Ms. Kelly-Croswell graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor's degree in finance and a master's degree in labor and industrial relations.