The Rev. Jeannette J. Phillips of Peekskill was recently honored by U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey with a Congressional proclamation citing her “tireless dedication to providing affordable health care.”
Phillips is the last surviving founder of Hudson River Healthcare. In 1975, she and three other African-American women known as the founding mothers worked with the community to start a health center to address the desperate shortage of accessible, affordable and quality health care services in their city.
Forty-five years later, that health center has grown into Hudson River Healthcare, the largest network of federally qualified community health centers in New York state and third largest in the U.S. Today, it provides services to more than 245,000 patients each year at 43 locations across the Hudson Valley, Long Island and all five boroughs of New York City.
“The Rev. Mrs. Jeannette J. Phillips is directly responsible for giving generations of New Yorkers access to critical health services that they otherwise would not have. She paved the way for many community-based health care leaders and is a prime example of the power of fortitude, service and advocacy. We are so grateful to Congresswoman Lowey for recognizing Reverend Phillips and celebrating her legacy,” said Anne Kauffman-Nolon, CEO of Hudson River Healthcare.
