GEORGETOWN, Del. - La Red Health Center Chief Executive Officer Brian Olson will officially retire on Dec. 27, after nearly 23-years of leadership.
Olson’s successor, Rachel Hersh, will assume the role of CEO on Dec. 28. Hersh has served as deputy director and CEO-elect for more than a year and will lead a team of 167 employees providing care to nearly 14,000 uninsured and underinsured patients in Sussex County.
“I am very excited to take on this new role and lead La Red Health Center and expand its mission of ensuring all Sussex County residents have access to quality and affordable health care,” Hersh said. “Our organization is deeply grateful for Brian’s vision, leadership and commitment to the health and well-being of Sussex County residents. We wish him well in this next chapter.”
Under Olson’s leadership, La Red Health Center grew from a small telephone hotline program within La Esperanza to a comprehensive health care organization. When Olson took over, the program primarily connected non-English-speaking people to community health care services. Now, La Red operates three locations in Georgetown, Milford and Seaford, offering primary care, pediatrics, women’s health care, behavioral health services and substance use disorder treatment.
In recent years, La Red expanded its services to include dental care and launched a mobile health unit to increase access to care. Olson was also instrumental in partnering with Delaware Women, Infants, and Children to establish on-site WIC program offices at La Red’s Georgetown location, says the organization.
“As I reflect on my time at La Red, I am most proud of the talented people I was fortunate enough to work with and the thriving health care center that we built together over the last two decades,” Olson said.
Hersh began her career working with incarcerated youth and later transitioned into nursing, taking on roles ranging from staff nurse to chief operating officer at various federally qualified health centers. She also served as Director of Community Health at the University of Pittsburgh’s Program Evaluation and Research Unit, where she implemented evidence-based programs to improve public health outcomes, with a focus on substance use disorder prevention and recovery. In 2023, Hersh relocated to Sussex County with her husband, Dan Hersh, where they have become active community members.