Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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87 OCTOBER 2020 provider, she's a member of the North Shore Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce HealthCare Leadership Committee, and the Danvers YMCA Ambassador Program. Originally from Chicago, Ahern served as president and CEO of that city 's Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care for 18 years, and then was CEO of the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care in Buffalo, New York. Combined, she has over forty years of healthcare leadership experience. She holds a nursing diploma, a BS, and an MBA. "I'm unusual because there aren't a lot of RNs with MBAs out there," she says. But she's much more than her impressive resume. "It may be the skills she learned as a nurse in the emergency room that guide her today," says Jean Graham, who nominated Ahern for this award. "She has an innate ability to put people at ease. She knows the value of someone guiding a family through their hardest days." Graham also champions Ahern's ability to put her employees first. "I love growing people and helping them form into their full career potential," says Ahern. She's grown her organization, too—under her leadership, Care Dimensions launched a home-based primary care practice and opened a second location. "It's been quite the rollercoaster," says Ahern of the last few months. Care Dimensions became more essential than ever, and quickly pivoted to moving office employees to a remote format and providing protective equipment to staff seeing patients. To help families cope with the heartbreak and grief of losing loved ones to COVID-19, they've sent out giftbags with picture frames, forget-me-not seeds, and information about grief and healing. "We made an intentional decision early on in this process to keep our people employed," says Ahern. "When I'm looking back on this time, several years from now, that's the thing that I will be the most proud of." WA N DA G O M E Z VP OF RESIDENTIAL SERVICES FOR FIDELITY HOUSE CRC, LAWRENCE Born and raised in Lawrence, Wanda Gomez is a second-generation American and the vice president of residential services for Fidelity House, a nonprofit supporting people with disabilities and their families. Her mother immigrated to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic as a young woman, working on a visa for a diplomatic family in D.C. and eventually settling in Lawrence. "I was introduced to Fidelity House in 2006 at a point in life when I desperately was seeking guidance," says Gomez. Taking care of family members with medical issues meant Gomez's own education and ambitions had to take a back seat. She often found herself working three jobs at a time while attending Greater Lawrence Technical School. Now, she oversees all day-to-day operations in programs at FHCRC. She helps facilitate new program openings and ongoing moves, and manages the health and well-being of the people FHCRC supports. "My goal has been to always encourage those who need guidance," says Gomez. "I love to serve others in any way possible, to lead by example and to be their voice of reason. I love helping my community." As an agency that provides family support, day programming, and residential options for folks with disabilities, Fidelity House had its world turned upside-down with the pandemic. The biggest challenge, says Gomez, was supporting families who couldn't visit residents or, in some cases, lost a loved one to the virus. "It's been so difficult to see people struggle through this," says Gomez, "but we're so glad visits of some type are now happening Patricia Ahern, RN, MBA, FACHE, is the president and CEO of Care Dimensions. Wanda Gomez is VP of residential services for Fidelity House.