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James W. Hunt, Jr. Biography

James W. Hunt, Jr., president and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers since 1979, was born, raised and still lives in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester. Although a community activist at heart, Jim Hunt plays multiple roles in the public health arena.

As a public policy “wonk,” Jim has been invited to sit on several state commissions, including the Governor’s Health Care Task Force, Uncompensated Care Commission and Responsible Fatherhood Commission all charged with addressing the daunting issues of health care access and financing.

In his advocacy work, Hunt has focused on stabilizing health center financing; expanding health center services to the homeless, seasonal farm workers, persons with disabilities and the elderly; and replicating best practices across the health center network. His recent efforts have resulted in millions of dollars in financial relief to Massachusetts’ 52 health centers as they struggle to care for increasing numbers of uninsured patients. Most notably, in 2002, Hunt helped establish a 3-year, $15 million fund to enhance the quality and efficiency of health center care with Neighborhood Health Plan, the state’s health center-based HMO. Later, in 2003, Hunt secured an additional $21.5 million from state leaders to bolster the fund.

Hunt’s focus on the needs of the community-based health care workforce led him to collaborate with a local university to develop a first-in-the-nation community health certificate program for health center middle managers. The program, in its fifth year, helps to identify and train future leaders within the health center industry. More recently, with funding from Bank of America and Partners HealthCare, Hunt helped to develop a loan repayment program for primary care physicians who commit to practicing at community health centers. In addition, Hunt helped to secure a state funding match for the program, extending its impact statewide.

In recognition of his work to strengthen community-based health care, Jim was appointed to the board of directors of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation which was established in 2001 to broaden health care access throughout the state.

On a national level, Hunt is certified as an association executive through the American Society of Association Executives; is the former president of the National Association of Community Health Centers; and was the 1996 recipient of the prestigious Johnson and Johnson Community Health Care Award for an innovative health outreach project for Greater Boston’s underserved women and children.

Hunt is an adjunct professor at the Sawyer School of Management at Suffolk University. In 2002, Jim received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from the New England College of Optometry. He was also the first Geiger Gibson Distinguished Visitor in Community Health Policy at the George Washington University's School of Public Health and Health Services. The award is given to an individual who has exhibited extraordinary and sustained leadership in community health policy.

For a comprehensive biography, please click here.