Lawrence General and Holy Family Hospital President and CEO Abha Agrawal, MD, FACP, FACHE, was elected to the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association (MHA) Board of Trustees on Jan. 30, 2025. MHA serves as the united voice for the Commonwealth’s hospitals, health systems, and health care providers.
“Dr. Agrawal has already made an immeasurable impact on her community just one year into her time at Lawrence General, and we know she will bring the same changemaking spirit to our Board’s mission,” said MHA President and CEO Steve Walsh. “She understands the needs of underrepresented populations, the unique dynamics of community hospitals, and how to create positive change for patients and their caregivers. She is an important voice for MHA and our members as we think big and build a better system of the future.”
It is an exciting time for Dr. Agrawal and Lawrence General Hospital, which acquired Holy Family Hospital’s Methuen and Haverhill’s locations from Steward Health Care in October 2024 following Steward’s declaration of bankruptcy.
“Our mission when we set out to create a regional health system is a simple one: We want to be big enough to serve you, small enough to know you and close enough to love you,” Agrawal said. “Our goal now is to deliver on that promise.”
As part of the MHA Board, Dr. Agrawal will help support the recovery of local hospitals and health systems, all of which have absorbed a relentless series of pressures dating back to the beginning of the pandemic. The Board will advocate with a united front to ease the capacity pressures, workforce shortages, and administrative burdens that are now challenging timely patient care across the Commonwealth, and to restore financial stability to the state’s most important sector.
In the coming year, MHA and its Board will also build upon Massachusetts’ world-renowned legacy for health care innovation. Its priorities will include advancing state-of-the-art care outside the hospital, reimagining what an empowered healthcare profession looks like, and closing patient care disparities in new and creative ways.
“I am honored to be part of this exceptional organization and am looking forward to bringing the voices of our providers and communities to the Board and the important work of the MHA,” Agrawal said.