Hersh succeeds Olson as CEO for La Red Health Center

La Red Health Center announced the retirement of CEO Brian Olson, who has served in the position for nearly 23 years.

Succeeding him in the role is Rachel Hersh, who has served as La Red’s deputy director and CEO-elect for more than a year. She will lead a team of 167 employees in delivering care to 14,000 uninsured and underinsured patients in Sussex County’s only federally qualified healthcare center. Hersh brings a wealth of experience to the position, with more than a decade of leadership roles in nonprofit healthcare, academia and public health.

“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 healthcare,” 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.”

Olson came to La Red Health Center from New York City, where he worked in healthcare. After 9/11, he moved to Sussex County and came to La Red when it was still a telephone hotline program within the nonprofit La Esperanza. The program at the time connected non-English speaking residents to healthcare services in the community. La Red grew exponentially under Olson’s leadership.

La Red now offers primary care, pediatrics, women’s healthcare, behavioral healthcare and substance use disorder treatment at three locations in Milford, Georgetown and Seaford. Dental care services are offered in Georgetown and Milford. La Red also recently added a mobile health unit that offers primary care to its countywide network. 

Olson also was successful in having Delaware Women, Infants and Children set up program offices onsite at La Red’s Georgetown office, making it easier for its patients to access the nutrition program for their young children.

“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 healthcare center that we built together over the last two decades,” Olson said. “Everyone deserves access to quality healthcare, and La Red has provided that to so many Sussex County families over the years regardless of their insurance status. I am honored that I was able to be part of a team that could make a difference in people’s lives and in our community. As I leave, I know that I am leaving the organization in good hands with Rachel, and I look forward to watching La Red Health Center flourish for future generations of Sussex County residents.”

Hersh’s career reflects a commitment to health equity, community empowerment, and social and environmental justice. She and her husband Dan Hersh relocated in 2023 to Sussex County, where they are both active members of the community.

She brings to La Red Health Center her commitment to reducing health disparities in underserved communities by increasing access to culturally competent care through innovative programing that benefits all area residents.

Hersh began her career as a counselor working with incarcerated youth in Florida and later transitioned into nursing to expand her impact. While living in Pittsburgh, Pa., Hersh worked on the front lines of healthcare as a staff nurse at Jefferson Hospital and later as a nurse manager, care coordinator and RN educator at Sto-Rox Neighborhood Health Council, a federally qualified health center. She also served as chief operating officer at Metro Community Health Center, also an FQHC. Hersh served as director of community health at the University of Pittsburgh’s Program Evaluation and Research Unit, where she oversaw a team focused on implementing and evaluating evidence-based programs to improve public health outcomes, with a strong emphasis on substance use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery, reducing the impact of SUD in communities.