Greater Lawrence Family Health Center (GLFHC) is excited to welcome Guy Fish, MD, MBA, as its new president and chief executive officer.

Dr. Fish’s extensive health care experience as a physician and a consultant in numerous executive leadership roles encompasses both the for-profit and nonprofit health care sectors.

“The board is pleased to be able to draw on Guy’s significant history of leadership and innovation to guide our health center on the next phase of its journey to expand access and care to our patient community in Lawrence and throughout the Merrimack Valley,” said GLFHC Board Chair Charlie Zanazzi. “We look forward to working with Guy and all our partners to continue to make a difference in the lives of our patient community.”

Dr. Fish takes the helm on Tuesday, July 6 from John M. Silva. After more than 40 years as an innovator and leader at community health centers across the country, Silva retires on Wednesday, June 30.

“I am humbled and honored to be selected to join and lead the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center team,” Dr. Fish said. “GLFHC, a remarkable, nationally recognized institution which provides excellent care for the residents of the Lawrence area, sustainably fulfills the vision of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) as established by the late Drs. Jack Geiger and Count Gibson. The FQHC pursuit of ‘medical civil rights,’ what we now call health equity, has expanded to include addressing social determinants of health. Keeping this critical mission as my driving force, I look forward to leading GLFHC in the exciting times ahead as we act to improve the wellbeing of all.”

Most recently, Dr. Fish was acting CEO of Nextstage Therapeutics – a Spanish company with exosome technologies. Prior to that, he was CEO of Cellanyx Diagnostics, which uses artificial intelligence to predict which cancers are aggressive, and which are not.

Before Cellanyx, Dr. Fish was a leader with profit and loss responsibilities for 17 years at the health care strategy consulting firm Fletcher Spaght, Inc. His market assessments, due diligence in acquisitions, fundraising, and strategic growth planning for a wide range of medical services and products resulted in substantial value creation over the last 10 years. These engagements spanned: health services, med tech, life science tools, diagnostics, imaging, biotech, and digital health – all seeking to improve health with new innovations. Simultaneously, Fish was a central figure at Fletcher Spaght Ventures (FSV) in their management of two health care venture funds. At FSV, he served on the board of many companies including Phase Bio, BioTrove, Biocius, and Metabolon. He was also a board observer at Proteus Digital Health, Othera, and Decision Biomarkers.

Dr. Fish graduated from Harvard University with an AB degree in biochemistry, and earned his medical degree from Yale University. After completing his Internal Medicine Residency at Case Western, where he served the inner-city population at Cleveland MetroHealth, Fish and his wife opened a solo Internal Medicine practice in rural Delaware. His practice ranged from house calls to critical ICU patients, and services were occasionally paid in corn, peaches, and chickens.

Frustrated by health economics intruding into patient care, they left their thriving practice to pursue his MBA at Yale School of Management. Upon completing his MBA, Dr. Fish began a multi-faceted career, enriched by a diversity of experiences. He became a health care consultant at The Boston Consulting Group, then a sell-side analyst on Wall Street at Sanford C. Bernstein, and next Vice President of Business Development at Collagenesis, Inc., in Beverly, Mass.

In the nonprofit sector, Fish is Chairman of the Board of Trustees at health care think-tank Altarum Institute which is focused on improving the health for marginalized communities. As treasurer of the Harvard Alumni Association, he spearheaded initiatives to advance social justice and anti-racism. Dr. Fish is also a Lay Trustee of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and has chaired both the Patient Care Committee and the Medical Education Committee. He is an ardent supporter of the Bowdoin Street Health Center, serving marginalized communities in Dorchester, and twice ran the Boston Marathon to fundraise for them.

In previous years, Dr. Fish served on the Board of Registration in Medicine for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts under Govs. Mitt Romney and Deval Patrick, and chaired the inaugural Licensing Board and Appeals Board in Dubai Health Care City. In addition to chairing the board of the Hydrocephalus Association Scientific Advisory Board, Dr. Fish loves to teach and mentor, and is often a panelist, presenter, or lecturer at medical courses and conferences. He is co-author on several patents and publications.

Dr. Fish and his wife live in North Cambridge; their three children reside in San Francisco, Brooklyn, and Berlin.