Profile in Caring: Dr. Serena Dee
Dr. Serena Dee joined the GLFHC staff in 1988. Since her arrival, Dr. Dee has taken on almost every role available to a clinician. Her quiet, sweet, and unassuming manner belies her strength as a leader. Whether organizing a series of workshops on environmental toxins and endocrine disrupters and their potential negative effects on human growth and development or taking charge of treatment plans and prevention education during the city's deadly meningitis outbreak a decade ago, Serena calmly provides exceptional care using public health principles.

Her love of children is evident in her passionate commitment to caring for children with special health care needs (CSHCN). Her own experiences as a parent of a child with disabilities - her oldest son has autism and mental retardation - led her to reach out and help other families facing similar issues. She is currently involved in a MDPH initiative to create Medical Homes for CSHCN at GLFHC. Parents are an integral part of the process, even starting their own Spanish-speaking support group, which meets once a month at our West Site. Dr. Dee lives with her husband in Acton, and has four grown children and recently welcomed her third granddaughter.  

Q: Why did you decide to come to Lawrence to practice?

A: I had worked at the MA Department of Public Health as a live-in Pediatrician in the Division of Women and Children. During that time, most of my work was concentrated in Greater Boston. Then when the AIDS epidemic hit in the early 1980s, I started doing more public relations work around AIDS and its transmission. The city of Lawrence had the worst health statistics in the state for children with AIDS. There just were not enough doctors here and no prenatal care - especially for AIDS babies. I realized that I could help. After I was at GLFHC about three years, an amazing thing happened. The kids, who would have died before, started living. Some of them are now young adults. We haven't had an AIDS baby born in Lawrence in years now. That is a huge success.

Q: In your more than 20 years on staff, what positions have you held?

A: I have ended up working in just about every clinical position here including Residency Pediatrics Coordinator, South Site Medical Director, and even served for four years as the Health Center's Medical Director.

Q: What was it like being Medical Director?

A: I learned an enormous amount during my four-year tenure as Medical Director. When I served in that position, I realized everything came down to time and money. If we had enough of both, we would be all set. But we don't have that luxury, so we have to make decisions based on those limitations. With all the additional responsibilities as Medical Director, I was only able to see a limited number of patients once a week. I discovered how much I missed caring for them, and I also missed the one-on-one with staff.

Q: Have you a favorite job here?

A: The work I really loved the most was Associate Residency Director. I held that position just before I became Medical Director. I have always felt that the best part of working at GLFHC has been teaching. Health Center staff always tries to educate our patients, but we are always educating each other as well. I found out early on that the residents were not just learning from me, but we were learning from each other. It's a real community here. No matter what our roles, we are all working towards the same mission.

Q: What impresses you the most about GLFHC?

A: The most important thing for us to remember is that the patients are the real owners of GLFHC. The fact that Health Center patients have a majority presence on the Board of Directors ensures that GLFHC is responsible to them. There is and must be a great deal of respect for our patients. The Health Center is always working to ensure that everyone who comes here as a patient has a primary care doctor who guarantees continuity of care.

The Health Center provides a strong resource for public health, education, and advocacy. We have a lot of providers and support staff doing amazing work. I am very proud of the Reach Out and Read program, where clinicians give new reading books to children during regular checkup visits. This offers us a real opportunity to see how a child is progressing, and to talk with parents about the importance of reading to and with their children. There are so many wonderful GLFHC programs that address a variety of pediatric health issues from asthma management to childhood obesity.

GLFHC is a magical place. Working with the kids, their parents, and the special people on staff keeps me here and keeps me excited about what I do.