Two from Syracuse Community Health Center join Health Foundation board

Dr. Chima Chionuma, chief of service pediatrics at SCHC, and Gary Williams, SCHC’s director of performance improvement, have joined the Health Foundation’s board. They join 17 other community and business leaders from throughout Western New York and Central New York who currently serve on the Health Foundation’s board.

Trustees provide “vision, leadership and strategic direction in support” of the Health Foundation’s “mission to improve the health and health care” of people and communities in those regions.

“We are grateful to have Dr. Chionuma and Mr. Williams join our board,” Cheryl Smith Fisher, chair of the Health Foundation’s board of trustees, said in a release. “At a time of great challenges and opportunities in community health care, our new trustees’ vast knowledge and experience will be an invaluable asset to our work.”

Chionuma is a board-certified pediatrician. Besides her role as chief of service pediatrics for SCHC, she is also a clinical assistant professor in the department of pediatrics at Upstate Medical University.

Chionuma is a graduate of the Health Foundation’s Health Leadership Fellows program and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She is a member of the Medical Society of the State of New York, Onondaga County Medical Society, and Onondaga County Pediatric Society. 

Prior to his role as director of performance improvement at SCHC, Williams served as director of health quality improvement at Molina Healthcare Inc. He has also held several leadership positions including serving on numerous community boards in the Syracuse area. 

Williams is a public speaker and spoke on health-care equity during a TEDx in April 2019, the Health Foundation said.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Le Moyne College, a master’s degree in public administration from Long Island University, and is currently seeking his master’s degree in healthcare administration from Cornell University.