Two city councilors are calling on the Boston Public Health Commission’s medical director to return from Hawaii, where she has been working remotely since November.
Councilor-at-Large Annissa Essaibi-George, vice chairwoman of the council’s Public Health Committee, said she was “obviously very curious” about how Dr. Jennifer Lo, who makes $185,000 per year, ended up working from her tropical post.
“Ideally, we have a medical director who is physically on the front lines,” Essaibi-George, a mayoral candidate, said. “It’s difficult to imagine how you can fully immerse yourself in this work when you’re not here.”
In response to the councilor’s concerns, commission spokeswoman Caitlin McLaughlin referred to a statement last month in which Lo said she was working from Hawaii temporarily for family reasons.
“As a physician and public health professional, I have been on the front line and deeply involved in Boston’s efforts to control the pandemic within our community,” Lo said. “For personal reasons, including to support both sets of our aging parents, my husband and I had to make the difficult decision to temporarily relocate our family in November 2020 to be closer to them.”
Lo said she offered to resign. But Rita Nieves, BPHC’s interim executive director, said that while two-thirds of the commission’s staff work in the city, the rest — including Lo, who plans to return in August — are able to fulfill all of their duties remotely.
“There isn’t one reason why she needs to work here,” Nieves said. “Her job could be done completely remotely.”
But Essaibi-George said Lo isn’t the only person who has had to balance work and family during the pandemic.
“All of our families have made difficult decisions,” she said. “We hope the commission really explored the opportunity to hire an interim (medical) director … We need her back here as soon as possible because we need to have this pandemic behind us. We are at the most critical point in this pandemic. COVID is still here, even though the vaccine is here … We need to make sure the public’s health is front and center of our work.”
City Councilor Frank Baker, who also serves on the Public Health Committee, agreed.
“I guess she can do her job remotely, but it should be in the city,” he said. “As we start opening up the city, we’re going to need her at the table.”
Lo works for the commission through a subcontract that technically pays her to work four days a week, Nieves said. On Thursdays, she works for the Greater Roslindale Medical and Dental Center, she said.
“But Dr. Lo puts in more than 40 hours a week” for the commission, Nieves said.
“Rather than losing her unique skill set and switching medical directors in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, BPHC and the city of Boston reached an agreement that allowed Dr. Lo to work remotely,” McLaughlin said. “Dr. Lo continues to fulfill her duties and obligations and plays a critical role on BPHC’s COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.”
City Councilor Ed Flynn, who also serves on the Public Health Committee, called Lo “an exceptional doctor” who, despite her current location, has managed to do tremendous public health outreach, especially in the Asian community.
“She participated in a town hall discussion in the last two weeks, encouraging people to get vaccinated,” he said in a recent interview. “She’s been very responsive in helping coordinate services in many public health initiatives,” including COVID-19 testing, vaccinations and public awareness campaigns.
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March 21, 2021 at 06:57AM
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Two Boston city councilors want health commission’s medical director back from Hawaii - Boston Herald
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