Lisa Abdishoo, MD

President & CEO

Dr. Lisa Abdishoo has been involved with the Los Angeles Christian Health Centers since the early days of the clinic in 1998.  She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Irvine, and graduated from the University of Southern California School of Medicine. She then completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.  During her residency at Cedars, Dr. Abdishoo had the opportunity to work with underserved communities throughout Los Angeles at various community clinics, including LACHC’s Joshua House Clinic in Skid Row. In 1999 she officially joined the clinic  as Medical Director, and since that time, has worked in a variety of different leadership roles, including serving as the founding Executive Director of the clinic when it became an independent 501(c)3 in 2004.  Currently as Chief Medical Officer/Interim CEO, she oversees all day-to-day operations of the clinic, including medical, dental, and mental health services and administration.  Dr. Abdishoo also provides direct patient care at LACHC’s Joshua House and Pico Aliso sites, and maintains board certification in Internal Medicine.   

Katy White, MD

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. White joined LACHC in August 2009 as a family practice doctor at the east LA/Pico Aliso site.  She was born and  raised in the Los Angeles area, and attended Williams College in Massachusetts. She graduated from UC San Diego School of Medicine in 1997 and completed a Masters of Public Health at San Diego State University in 1997. She did her residency in Family Medicine at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center from 1997-2000 and is board certified in Family Practice. Dr. Katy has been working with inner city underserved populations since 2000, at South Central Family Health Center from 2000-2007, St. John’s Well Child and Family Center in Compton from 2007-2009, and currently at LACHC. From Fall 2008 through Spring 2013, she has been serving on the Board of Directors for Christian Community Health, a national organization which educates, encourages and equips Christians to live out the gospel through health care among the poor.  From Fall 2010- Fall 2012 she was the chairperson of the Board of Directors.  Dr. Katy is passionate about seeing more faith-based clinics birthed in Compton, South LA and throughout the Los Angeles area. For fun, she loves to spend time with her husband and 2 kids, aged 10 and 12, playing tennis, and running—even marathons.

Sofia Burns

Controller

Sofia Burns first became involved with LACHC as a Board Member and Chair of the Board’s Audit Committee in April 2009.  In early 2012, Sofia joined our staff as Controller.  She was born in Ecuador and has lived in Los Angeles since 1978. She attended California State University- Long Beach. She was previously a Controller at Community Health Alliance of Pasadena (CHAP) and the CFO at the New Image Emergency Shelter for the Homeless. She serves on the Membership Drive Committee for the Fundacion Amigos Latinos Unidos (FALU) and is a Member-at-Large for the Cerritos Aquatic Club. She attends Saint Cyprian Catholic Church. Sofia is married with three children, two sons and a daughter. She enjoys reading, dancing, listening to all kinds of music, and spending time with friends.

Sherieda Stewart, NP

Director of Nursing

Ms. Stewart joined LACHC as a Nurse Practitioner in 2008 and continued in that role until transitioning to Nursing Director.  She brings over 9 years of nursing experience to the Director of Nursing position. Her background includes critical care, emergency and nursing education as well as 2 years of primary care nursing.  She hails from the Midwest and is an alumnus of SIUE School of Nursing and SLU.

David Campbell, DDS

Dental Director

Dr. Campbell provides oversight and leadership as the Dental Director for LACHC. He joined LACHC in October 2007, at first as a volunteer. Dr. Campbell has provided hundreds of disadvantaged children and adults with high quality dental care free-of-charge through his volunteer work. His servant leadership has stabilized and professionalized the dental clinic at LACHC through the utilization of best practices and state of the art technology. He currently manages seven private dental offices and three charity clinics throughout Southern California. He also serves on the faculty at both USC and Western University of Health Sciences, while still practicing wet finger dentistry. Dr. Campbell earned his Doctor of Dental Science from the Art Dugoni University of the Pacific Dental School in 1990.

waoki@lachc.com                   ext. 115

Wayne Aoki, PhD

Mental Health Director

Dr. Aoki is a 1980 graduate of the Fuller Graduate School of Psychology. He began his career as a therapist and community consultant with Biola University and Ingleside Community Hospital. He had previously worked with the skid row population as a consultant to the chaplains of the Union Rescue Mission from 1982 -1991. In 1984, he assumed the Clinical Directorship for mental health services at The Sycamores, a residential treatment program for emotionally disturbed children. After establishing a training program for psychology interns from his alma mater, Fuller Graduate School of Psychology, he was invited by the school to join their faculty, teaching and doing research in the field of child and adolescent psychology. He joined the faculty in 1996, where he also assumed responsibility for directing the Psychological Center which supported several Department of Mental Health contracts including a low-fee outpatient clinic, services to the elderly, and a day treatment program for the persistently mentally ill. He left the faculty in 2004 and continued his own private practice and community consulting work with agencies such as the Door of Hope, a transitional housing program, and Rebuilding Together, a home improvement program for seniors and low-income families. He joined the Los Angeles Christian Health Centers, as their Mental Health Director in March 2008.

Teresa Antelo, MPH

Director of Fund Development

Teresa Antelo  joined LACHC as the Director of Fund Development in June 2011.  She possesses more than a 14 years of experience working for nonprofits committed to the health and wellness of vulnerable populations.  Prior to joining LACHC, Ms. Antelo served as the Manager of Grants and Contract Compliance at the Children’s Center of the Antelope Valley.  She holds a masters degree in public health from UCLA in Health Services Management and completed her undergraduate studies in biology and Brazilian literature at UC Berkeley.  Ms. Antelo is married with 2 young children and enjoys training for marathons with her husband.  

Cheryl Barnes, MA, JD

Human Resources Director

Cheryl Barnes has been employed by LACHC since June 2008. She administers programs for human resource management, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of recruitment, training, benefits and compensation. She oversees purchasing, facilities management, safety program and the recruiting and coordinating of volunteers. Ms. Barnes has a BA in Comparative Literature, a MA in Public Administration with an emphasis in urban development and a Juris Doctorate from Western State University of Law. Prior to her current employment she worked for 20 years as a Senior Public Housing Manager at the Housing Authority City of Los Angeles where she managed over a thousand rental units, supervised a staff of 40 with a $6 million dollar operating budget.

Ms. Barnes graduated in 2010 from the Angelus Bible Institute. She is very active in her church and runs a business that focuses on incorporating and obtaining 501(c)3s for nonprofits. She has one son, Jack, a physicist who lives in Santa Cruz.

Bettina Lewis

Program Manager

Bettina Lewis joined the Los Angeles Christian Health Centers in 2006 as the Executive Assistant to the President  & Chief Executive Officer. Her diverse skills and background are a true asset for accomplishing the goals and objective of expanding LACHC’s programs and services to address the needs of the community. Bettina holds a Master of Business Administration and Certification in Health Care Management. She loves reading, spending time with her family and being an active member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority. 

Mark Sanchez

Operations Manager

Joseph Mendez

IT Systems Manager

Joe Mendez came to LACHC in 2009 after a brief stint with the Los Angeles Mission.  Prior to that, he served with Mission Aviation Fellowship in Redlands, California for over 18 years.  He brings over 20 years of non-profit IT experience. He is a life long resident of Southern California and earned a Bachelor’s degree from UCLA.  Joe is married, has 3 adult sons and enjoys coaching youth soccer. 

Kelly Chang, PharmD, BCPS

Clinical Pharmacist

Dr. Kelly Chang oversees the organization's provision of medications to patients as well as offers clinical insight to medication usage and management of medication-related problems.  She is a graduate of the USC School of Pharmacy, completed a primary care residency program through USC, and also became board certified as a pharmacotherapy specialist in 2011.  Ever since she started pharmacy school, she has wanted to work with the medically underserved to be God's helping hand to the poor and broken-hearted.  It has been through God's grace and sovereignty that she has been given the opportunity to work at LACHC.