The Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center announces that its President and CEO, Antonia “Toni” G. McGuire, a resident of Westborough, MA, was recently honored at the Community College of Rhode Island’s (CCRI) 50th anniversary celebration. Twenty-six alumni were recognized at the event, with three individuals receiving special outstanding achievement awards representing the three academic divisions of the College. Ms. McGuire received the award for outstanding achievement in the division of Health and Rehabilitative Services, having received her Associate of Science in Nursing at CCRI.
Since receiving her degree at CCRI and eventual RN, Ms. McGuire went on to earn her bachelor’s degree from Maryville University in St. Louis, MO. While serving as the Health Services Director at the Family Care Health Center in St. Louis, she received a United States Public Health Service scholarship and earned her master’s in public health from St. Louis University.
Ms. McGuire worked for the National Association of Community Health Centers as the Vice President of Clinical Services, and traveled across the United States assisting health centers to determine their readiness for working in a managed care environment. After moving to Massachusetts, she assumed the role of System Director for Health Education and Promotion at Fallon Health Care System. And when asked, Ms. McGuire assisted in helping to organize the first ever Department of Family Medicine at Boston Medical Center (BMC) as the Director of Administration and Community Affairs. Among her many accomplishments at BMC, she worked with others to establish a Family Practice Residency program embedded in Boston community health centers. After serving as the CEO for Manet Community Health Center in Quincy, she joined Kennedy CHC in 2008.
During her acceptance speech at the CCRI awards ceremony, Ms. McGuire thanked the many individuals who supported her, as well as gave credit to her many teachers at the College. “No one ever really walks this path alone,” Ms. McGuire shared. “Teachers invested in me, and helped turn my work into something bigger than me and bigger than life. If you invest in one person, you invest in a community.”
