Dr. Henry Thompson Honored for his Passion for Caring for Staten Islanders
By Danielle Wiseman, Staten Island Chamber of Commerce
Dr. Henry Thompson is a true jack-of-all-trades, but his passion is caring for the people of Staten Island.
Originally from Miami, Florida, Dr. Thompson got his first taste of the Northeast when he received a full athletic scholarship to play football for the University of Connecticut. While living out his dream of playing football at the college level, Dr. Thompson also pursued a major in Fine Arts with hopes of attending architecture school. However, after graduating, Dr. Thompson started his first full-time job at Coca Cola, and then returned to Florida, where he discovered that he didn’t want to limit himself to architecture.
An avid learner and lover of knowledge, Dr. Thompson also studied at the University of Miami, where he received his Master of Arts in Liberal Studies in 2000 and his Master of Public Administration in 2002. – all while working full-time at a large health center in Southern Florida.
Dr. Thompson – who started as a Human Resources Specialist - continued to work at the health center for almost ten years, eventually becoming Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President of Corporate Affairs. Dr. Thompson attributes much of his dedication to community healthcare to his positive experiences with health centers as a child.
“The Jessie Trice Community Health System, which has changed names many times over the years, is the same health center that my mom used to bring me to when I was a little boy,” reminisces Dr. Thompson. “My friends used to make fun of me as a kid because I was never sick, and I was always jealous of the kids who got to miss school. But when I started working at the health center as an adult, I finally understood the impact that the center had on my family because it was affordable, accessible within the neighborhood, and I got great care.”
Dr. Thompson relocated to New York in 2008, where he continued to work with health centers in Brooklyn and Upstate New York, completing financial turnarounds for centers that were experiencing operating challenges. He was then offered the position of interim CEO at the Community Health Center of Richmond (CHCR), which he readily accepted. Dr. Thompson officially became the full-time CEO of CHCR in March of 2010, solidifying his position and future home.
CHCR is a not-for-profit, Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) providing ambulatory, outpatient care. CHCR offers a full range of medical and dental services for children, adults, and seniors, including podiatry, behavioral health, and nutrition. The center was established in July of 2006 and started with just one location in Port Richmond, conducting approximately 10,000 visits per year. Now, CHCR operates four centers across Staten Island, two in Port Richmond and two in Stapleton, and conducts over 41,000 visits each year.
CHCR’s growth is a testament to Dr. Thompson’s tireless efforts to uplift both the health center and the Staten Island community. When Dr. Thompson joined the CHCR team in 2009, he worked alongside 32 staff members. Since becoming CEO, he has quadrupled the size of the staff, now employing 112 people at CHCR. Dr. Thompson is also in the process of building a brand-new, two-story community health center on Grove Avenue to replace CHCR’s flagship location, which is no longer big enough to serve CHCR’s growing population.
“What’s unique about this new location is that we’re incorporating the centering pregnancy model into the design and also developing an onsite birthing center,” says Dr. Thompson. "Unfortunately, Staten Island leads the city and the state in negative maternal and infant health outcomes, and we’ve been working to reduce those numbers through many of our programs.”
CHCR will never turn a patient away. The health center prides itself on inclusivity by taking all patients, regardless of age, immigration status, or ability to pay. CHCR ensures that their healthcare is high-quality, affordable, and accessible, offering a sliding fee scale based on family size and income in accordance with federal poverty guidelines. Over thirty languages are spoken between staff members, accommodating the extremely diverse population that CHCR serves, of which almost 90% are immigrants and people of color.
Additionally, CHCR is committed to treating the whole patient through every stage of life, conducting nearly all services in-house. Each patient goes through numerous touchpoints with different staff members before seeing the primary doctor, ensuring that the patient has been thoroughly examined.
“One of the requirements of an FQHC is to be comprehensive, which means we must serve all ages of the life course,” adds Dr. Thompson. “If we don’t directly offer a service that a patient needs, then we have to develop a relationship with an outside provider to refer externally. Primary care is a marathon, not a race, and we try to create meaningful, long-term relationships with our patients to help them succeed down the line.”
While leading CHCR in all its endeavors, Dr. Thompson also decided to pursue his doctoral degree in Healthcare Leadership from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The program was 50% in person and 50% distanced learning, allowing Dr. Thompson to continue working at CHCR while studying. Dr. Thompson started the program in 2013 and proudly earned his doctorate in 2020 alongside his wife, Wedelie, and children, Ury and Michaela.
For his accomplishments, Dr. Thompson is being honored with a Louis R. Miller Business Leadership Award, which he will receive in the Not-for-Profit Businessperson category. The awards, which are presented by the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce and the Staten Island Advance, honor the memory of Louis R. Miller, a businessman and West Brighton resident who was also a community leader.
CHCR is the definition of a community health center because it is entirely embedded in the Staten Island community. CHCR prioritizes patients who don’t typically have access to quality healthcare, makes itself a known and beneficial resource, and actively collaborates with other community organizations, such as the Central Family Life Center and Project Hospitality.
In addition to bettering the community every day through his work at CHCR, Dr. Thompson is also a member of the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation, the Staten Island Performing Provider System, a Trustee for Union Baptist Church of Montclair, and the Chairman of the Health and Wellness Committee for the New York Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. CHCR is also a Staten Island Chamber of Commerce Building Awards winner.
“Leadership has nothing to do with titles, prestige, or education,” concludes Dr. Thompson. “Leadership is about action and being able to get things done, and I think we’ve demonstrated that through our work at CHCR.”
Current occupation AND title: Chief Executive Officer, Community Health Center of Richmond, Inc., Staten Island, New York (November 2009 – Present)
Hometown (i.e. New Dorp, Tottenville or elsewhere, etc.): Orange, New Jersey
Past occupation/s and titles (please also attach resume or CV): Chief Administrative Officer, Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York (April 2008 – March 2009); Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Jessie Trice Community Health Center, Miami, Florida (July 1998 – November 2007).
Community involvement (please describe significant volunteer efforts or names of organizations you have been involved in):
1. Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.; Current member of the New York Alumni Chapter; Current position – Chairman, Health and Wellness Committee.
2. Union Baptist Church of Montclair, NJ; Member of the Trustees Ministry.
Some of my life goals include: To visit every continent of the world.
The best part of my job: Ability to impact change.
1. Patient impact – new service lines and programs;
2. Staff impact – creating career growth and professional development opportunities;
3. Community impact – building new sites and expanding access to primary health care services.
The most difficult part of my job: Not having all the resources needed to implement ideas.
My life philosophy: Be the change agent for the change that you want to see in your community.
I am most proud of: Restoring historic homes.
Something that no one knows about me: I was a member of a choir.
The quality I like best about myself: Learning from my mistakes and my thirst for knowledge.
Personal interests and hobbies: Collecting art, reading, watching mystery movies.
I laugh at: Funny stories and videos.
I am really good at: Solving puzzles.
I admire: Self-taught artists and musicians.
Some important thing/s I would like you to know about me: What motivates me to work hard – the fear of failing!