LYNN — As he presided over a rapidly-expanding Lynn Community Health Center, CEO Dr. Kiame Mahaniah was not afraid to put himself in the eye of a storm.
The center serves many people on many issues. It has outgrown its main building on Union Street and is spread over several downtown locations. And that includes the executive suite, which is now on Central Avenue.
Dr. Mahaniah, Lynn’s Person of the Year, sees the LCHC as an important part of the Lynn health care landscape, but won’t take personal credit for what the LCHC has accomplished.
For example, 495 babies were born to LCHC patients in 2019, and 95 percent of those patients qualified as low-income.
“I prefer that the center be recognized for what it does,” he said. “I am just the vehicle.”
The center’s array of medical services also includes treatment of HIV and substance abuse cases, helping patients learn to read, providing assistance in immigration issues, and prevent, or at least controlling, teenage pregnancy.
And, he says, “we are the only facility in the area that treats pregnant women who are abusing substances.”
Dr. Mahaniah, who is almost 50, is a multi-faceted man. He is up on all the major medical issues of the day, but loves comic books. Also, he loves hiking, and says he will go to the farthest-flung places to engage in his favorite activity.
He’s also a staunch advocate for counseling and treating teens who have nowhere else to go for advice and treatment on reproductive issues. And that is where he and the center found themselves in the fall.
The center, in conjunction with the Lynn School Department, committed to distributing contraceptives to all students who want or need them.
It was not a popular decision among certain segments of Lynn. But Dr. Mahaniah said, “our goal is to prevent teenage pregnancy. That’s what we’re working toward.”
He says he understands why the decision met with much opposition. A lot of parents felt that counseling their children on reproductive issues was strictly up to them. But, he said, “those aren’t the (children) we’re seeing. We’re seeing the other ones (the ones who are not being counseled by their parents).
“They (parents) want to be involved,” he said. “That’s what we want. We want parents to be involved.
“Looking at it from a values perspective, what can we do to prevent teenage pregnancy?”
And, he says, he will do anything he can to bridge the gap between his view of the decision and those who intensely oppose it.
‘I’m looking forward to reaching across the aisles,” he said. “This was a hard-fought battle, but I would hate that the health center is thought of as the enemy.”
