Page 6 - Healthcare Heroes 2022

HEALTHCARE HEROES OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
Lifetime Achievement
Helen W By George O’Brien
Caulton-Harris
hen then-Mayor Michael Albano invited her to take on the considerable challenge of directing Springfield’s Health Department and Human Services Department as one entity and oversee that consolidation effort, Helen
Caulton-Harris was caught somewhat off guard.
She didn’t know Albano, was not active in his campaign for
the corner office, and was not expecting any invitations to join his administration.
So when the request came, she had to think about it for
a while, but eventually said ‘yes.’ But certainly not with the expectation that 26 years and two mayors (including the current office holder, Domenic Sarno, who has had the job for 14 years) later, she would still have that title on her business card.
“I certainly didn’t see this as something that I would be doing two and half decades later,” she said, adding that she has stayed in this post for several reasons, but especially because she loves not only the work, but also her ability to make a real difference in the community, and also because there is still considerable work to do.
And there are always new and different challenges to meet, not the least of which is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has tested Caulton-Harris and her department in every way imaginable. It has also been a learning experience on many different levels, as we’ll see, and one that has provided some valuable lessons on how things can be done better and more efficiently.
we had to collaborate and coordinate, and that we must share information. We’re no longer working exclusively in silos; we are working across the public- health venue.
“Every two weeks, we have a session with all of our partners to talk about our outreach, lessons learned, and best practices,” she went on. “So those things are part of what has happened as far as COVID-19 is concerned — our communication strategies have become more concrete.”
Caulton-Harris is the 2022 Healthcare Hero in the prestigious Lifetime Achievement category, and she has truly accomplished quite a bit in her career, especially this current chapter.
Overall, she has been an advocate, a true believer in the power of information — she preaches education — and a leader who has taken problems head on and achieved notable progress in areas ranging from teen pregnancy to infant mortality; from care for the homeless population to policies limiting smoking in public places; from substance-use disorders to violence prevention.
Leah Martin Photography
Health and Human Services Commissioner, City of Springfield
Public Health
Has Become Her
Life’s Work
“The way in which our public-health community has shifted because of the pandemic is that
we’ve learned to work together,”
she said. “We understood that
“The way
in which our public-health community has shifted because of the pandemic is that we’ve learned to work together.”
There are always
new challenges, she said, adding that, today,
Caulton-Harris
Continued on page A8
A6 2022
2022 HEALTHCARE HEROES