Dr. Lisa Abdishoo is stepping down as President and CEO of LACHC in September to focus on what she loves doing best—providing patient care! Dr. Abdishoo has held the position since 2012 and been on staff since 1999. Lisa Abdishoo, M.D. informed the board and staff of her intention in March of this year. Board Chair, Stacey Bowers, commented, “We are grateful for Dr. Abdishoo’s extraordinary commitment and faithful leadership. She is an especially astute advocate for the cause of making quality and compassionate health care available to all in need, regardless of ability to pay. Her special style of leadership will be missed which is why we are grateful that she will remain a part of the LACHC team in a clinical role.”
Dr. Abdishoo stated, “It has been a huge honor for me to serve in leadership at LACHC for these past 23 years. Together with our outstanding team, I’ve had the chance to help grow the clinic from a group of 6 in those early days, to now more than 170 of us, providing a comprehensive scope of healthcare services that I could only have dreamt of when we were first starting out. The incredible memories and miracles along the way are too numerous to count. In all of it, the greatest blessing has been seeing God’s grace, compassion and justice poured out through this work, and seeing healing and hope come not just to those we serve, but to those of us who are serving. I can never express what a privilege it is to be a part of this cause. I’m incredibly excited about returning to delivering primary medical care to this beloved community where I started my career. I’m also grateful for the chance to join our wonderful team of medical providers.”
Her passion for expanding access to health care and using it to create pathways out of homelessness has fueled Dr. Abdishoo’s work with LACHC for 25 years—starting in 1997 when she rotated through a very small homeless clinic (then known as LA Mission Community Clinic), as a part of her Cedars-Sinai residency outpatient experience. In 1999 she came on staff as the clinic’s first physician/Medical Director, and in 2004 when the clinic split away from its parent organization, she became the founding Executive Director & Medical Director of the new entity. She has led the organization through the implementation of Affordable Care Act, the expansion of street medicine and the tremendous growth of supportive services and case management. She also led the organization through building and opening the Joshua House Health Center—a 25-million-dollar health center in Skid Row. Located at 325 E 7th Street in Los Angeles, Joshua House is a state-of-the-art health center with three floors consisting of 18 medical exam rooms, 6 flexible consultation rooms, 8 dental chairs, 9 mental health rooms, group therapy meeting rooms, 13 social work/care coordination offices, an optometry suite, a multi-purpose area, a meditation room, and chaplain’s office. It replaces LACHC’s original location of 20 years on Winston Street behind the LA Mission.
LACHC’s Board of Directors has appointed Bettina Lewis, current Deputy Director and COO to serve as the interim President and CEO effective September 15th. A nation-wide search for the permanent CEO is underway.
Thank you Dr. Lisa for your continued service to the Skid Row community!