After nearly four years in the post, the head of the city’s health commission is stepping down, saying she wants to spend more time with her family.
Monica Valdes Lupi, who took the job in early 2016, briefed her staff earlier this month and alerted the City Council in an e-mail last week. She said she is leaving at the end of the month and said she was humbled by her work for several years at the Boston Public Health Commission, the last three as executive director.
“Over the last four years, I’ve given 110 percent in promoting the critical public health work that often goes unnoticed, especially when the focus has been on just a few of our programs,” she said in an e-mail to the councilors.
“I’m so proud of all the things that we’ve been able to do together at BPHC, and I’m confident that the team will all continue to innovate and be a leader among local health departments,” she added.
The health commission, a quasi-city government body, manages a variety of programs, from those that help children and families to those that monitor infectious diseases, addiction, homelessness, and emergency medical services.
The commission said in a statement Wednesday that it will work with an outside firm to conduct a nationwide search for a new executive director and thanked Valdes Lupi for her work “leading the city’s work to improve the health of all residents, particularly the most vulnerable.”
Valdes Lupi’s e-mail highlighted what she called the commission’s accomplishments during her tenure, including the creation of a new Office for Health Equity to concentrate racial justice and health equity efforts; redesigning and launching a Neighborhood Trauma Team to enhance the city’s response to community violence; and developing a new strategic plan involving all staff across the commission, while addressing risk areas within the organization’s operational structure.
Valdes Lupi, a mother of two, said she was stepping down to care for her immediate and extended family.
In a statement, Mayor Martin J. Walsh wished Valdes Lupi well, saying she was instrumental in enacting many of the city’s health initiatives.
“Monica Valdes Lupi played an instrumental role directing initiatives that have improved every aspect of health in Boston — from integrating racial justice and health equity across public health programs, re-designing and launching the Neighborhood Trauma Team Network to strengthening public health response to community violence, and co-leading efforts with Boston area hospitals to improve population health,” the mayor said.
Milton J. Valencia can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @miltonvalencia.