Contact: Richard P. Gulla,
781-434-7101
rgulla@mms.org
Waltham, Mass. -- February 22, 2016 -- Needham resident Esther R. Valdez, M.D. has been honored by her physician peers of the Suffolk District Medical Society as the district’s 2016 Community Clinician of the Year. She will receive the award at the district’s annual meeting March 30 at the Downtown Harvard Club.
The Community Clinician of the Year Award recognizes a physician from each of the Society’s 20 district medical societies who has made significant contributions to his or her patients and the community. The Suffolk District is one of 20 district societies of the Massachusetts Medical Society, the statewide professional association of physicians, and is comprised of nearly 4,000 physicians who live and work in Boston and adjacent communities.
Dr. Valdez is the Medical Director for Behavioral Health at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program, a position she has held since 2008. She joined the healthcare agency in 1996 as a staff psychiatrist. BHCHP, founded in 1985, was one of the first programs in the country to provide health care to homeless individuals and now serves some 12,000 homeless men, women, and children annually.
As part of the behavioral health team at the agency, Dr. Valdez assists in delivering behavioral health services to homeless persons, including individual and group counseling, child and family therapy, medication management, and referrals to detoxification and rehabilitation programs.
Board certified in psychiatry, Dr. Valdez received her medical degree from the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy’s and St. Thomas at the University of London, England. She completed her internship at the Boston Veterans Administration Medical Center and her residency in psychiatry at Boston University. She holds a faculty appointment in the Division of Psychiatry at Boston Medical Center and is a Clinical Instructor at Harvard Medical School.
The Massachusetts Medical Society, with some 25,000 physicians and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for the patients and physicians of Massachusetts. The Society, under the auspices of NEJM Group, publishes the New England Journal of Medicine, a leading global medical journal and web site, and Journal Watch alerts and newsletters covering 13 specialties. The Society is also a leader in continuing medical education providing accredited and certified activities across the globe for physicians and other health care professionals. Founded in 1781, MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country. For more information please visit www.massmed.org, www.nejm.org, or www.jwatch.org.
