July 22, 2025 • 10 mins
Brian K. Clark is the current Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Greater Philadelphia Health Action, Inc. (GPHA), a Federally Qualified Health Center founded in 1970 that provides Medical, Dental, Behavioral Health, Pharmacy, and Child Development Services to over 90,000 patients, generating 320,000 visits and has a $90,000,000 budget with 16 locations throughout the city of Philadelphia. The health center offers several enabling services, including homeless shelter assistance, services for those in a domestic violence situation, and interpretation services. Mr. Clark has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in International Finance. He serves on the Board of Trustees at Second Baptist Church in Pottstown. Additionally, he serves as Treasurer and Board Member for the Robert W. Sorrell Scholarship Fund. Mr. Clark has over 20 years of finance and operations experience with vast knowledge of capital financing, accounting, funding, grants, and many other aspects of both for-profit and non-profit organizations.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
CEOs you should know, brought to you by Comcast Business. Today,
we're joined by Brian Clark, Chief executive Officer of Greater
Philadelphia Health Action, Inc. Better known as GPHA. For fifty
five years, the organization has been a pillar in our region,
providing compassionate, high quality healthcare to thousands of individuals and
families across Philadelphia. With a network of health centers offering
(00:23):
integrated medical, dental, and behavioral health services, GPHA continues to
serve as a trusted anchor for wellness in the communities
that need it the most. This year marks a major milestone,
gpaha's fifty fifth anniversary celebration, happening July twenty sixth at
the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a moment to reflect on
decades of service and look ahead to the future of
(00:45):
accessible care for all. So, Brian, you are celebrating fifty
five years of service in Philadelphia. Tell us about the
organization's origins, mission, and the impact it's made over the decadest.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Well, thank you, Thank you for taking the time to
help us share what we do and how we do
it and why we believe it's important. We are fifty
five years old, as you stated, We're having a great
celebration at the Art Museum on the twenty six so
please all come out and enjoy. We started our organization
back in the seventies and it came out of a
(01:18):
lot of the legislation that was passed around the civil
rights movement that started essentially under jfk Up into LBJ,
a lot of the social justice movements, and one of
the bigger components of it was healthcare for the poor.
And say what you want to say about the federal government,
but they did a great thing when they created federally
qualified health centers because it focuses on being a safety
(01:39):
net provider and we see people as part of our mission,
regardless of their ability to pay. Most of our patients
are at or below the poverty guideline and therefore qualify
for Medicaid, but we have quite a few folks that
come in that are uninsured, and based on they could
lose a job and not have insurance. They could be
here visiting on a visa and not have insurance. And
(02:02):
so it is something that we really hold near and
dear to us, which is everyone needs healthcare as a
basic fundamental right. We have been doing this for fifty
five years. We have multiple locations across the city. We
see twelve hundred people today for primary care for all ages,
(02:23):
women's health, optimology, endochronology, rheumatology, infectious disease. We also have
a very large dental program for all ages, and we
are both licensed in both drug and alcohol and mental health.
And we see folks that are battling with substance abuse
and then separately that have a diagnosed mental health order schizophrenia, bipolar, anxiety,
(02:47):
or big drivers of mental health problems, and on the
surface is a lot of times a substance abuse problem.
When you peel the onion, what you find is that
there's a patient or an individual rather that has an
undie no mental health problem and they are self medicating
with alcohol or drugs prescription pills as a way to
(03:09):
help them cope. And when what they don't really understand
because they've never been diagnosed, is that they really have
underlie mental health issue. And so we've been doing this
again for fifty five years. We see roughly twelve hundred
patients a day rain, sleet, or snow. We see more
patients than the hospitals. Hospitals have beds, and you go
and you stay overnight. Our patients come in, get what
(03:29):
they need and go home every day. On top of
the care that we give, we separately have our own pharmacies,
so you can get your prescriptions at our locations or
we can home deliver to you at no charge. And
we also have our own labs where we draw our
own blood and on our own specimens. If you can imagine,
(03:51):
most of us go to the doctor, and we go
in and the doctor touches us on the shoulder and says, okay,
go get blog work and come back. And then we
get blug work and he says, okay, we'll take this
prescription and go get your medication. And the two weeks
come back. And so there's a lot of you to
and then frowing when it comes to healthcare. Go here
for this, go here for that. What we have attempted
(04:12):
to do over a fifty five year period is to
create what we call a total health care home, which
allows patients that are dealing with the social determinants of
health to get as much care that they can at
their provider's office so they don't get bounced around and
sent here and there. Most of us, when we are
(04:32):
told to go get bloodwork. We'll get it, but about
thirty percent don't. Most of us will get our prescriptions,
but about forty percent don't get the prescriptions, and about
fifty percent don't get the refill thirty days later once
we went out. What we try to do is knock
down those barriers for our patients and helpfully to drive
better outcomes.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
You talk about being a community anchor. I wonder if
you can share what that means to you and how
GPHA builds long term relationship so the neighborhoods it serves.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
That's a great point. So in addition to providing care,
and health care is important and the more local you
can make health care, the better you know. Phil Philadelphia,
it's been said, is a city of neighborhoods, and everyone
knows that we have major medical institutions. And if you
had a horrific accident, if you had to conjoin twins
(05:23):
or rare disease, you would get the best care in
the world. But if you have a chronic disease like
a hypertension or diabetas, and you have no insurance, a
low insurance, you'll unfortunately get sicker and sicker and unfortunately
die slowly because of the way the reimbursement structure is
set up in America. And so what health centers doing
(05:47):
with gphahs specifically, is we identify neighborhoods that are what's
called a health care desert, where based on some thousands
of patients, how many primary care are in those communities.
And you'd be surprised that a significant portion of our
neighborhoods are in the shadows of some of the major
best hospitals in the world, but there's no primary care there,
(06:11):
there's no dental there, there's no behavior health in their communities.
And so we identify neighborhoods that have a lack of providers.
We look at the health outcomes of those communities, and
that's how we decide to build facilities and expand services.
We connect with communities exactly in that way. The youth
sports teams, the Girl Scouts, other nonprofits, we support them
(06:35):
in any way that we can to get the word
out that we are a local provider where their provider,
and they don't have to catch a bus and take
the subway or the train to get to basic fundamental health.
They can go down the street and around the corner,
maybe a bus stop away to get to services that
they truly need and that their entire families need. We're
(06:57):
now and at fifty five years serving our of families.
It is very heartening because there are folks that are
with us that say, my mom came, my grandmom came,
and my great grandmom came, and now I'm bringing my children,
and so we're very proud of that.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Let's talk about the big celebration. What can we expect
at the fifty fifth anniversary event and what does this
milestone mean for you and your team.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Well, it's a big deal for us. I mean, if
you think about the number of companies, major household names
we all knew about and they're gone. They're just they
no longer exist. The Blockbuster videos and the Seers and
the JC Tenneys of the world, and I can go
on and on and on. And these are very smart
people that round these companies. They made lots of money
and we all use them and then one day they're
(07:44):
out of business. And so to be around fifty five
years and to be as relevant today as we were
when we started fifty five years ago is certainly an
accomplishment that we are very proud of. It's a blessing
to some extent, but it's also a unfortunate commentary on
the fact that there are not lots of providers trying
(08:05):
to come into our communities and take care of our patients.
And so as much as I'm happy that we are relevant,
the need is still acute in the communities that we serve,
and so the celebration is really a couple of hours
just to say thank you to our team, to our board,
to other folks that have taken an interest in who
we are and what we do. The celebration is really
(08:28):
about the twelve hundred folks we see a day. We
had about two hundred and ninety patient encounters last year.
We'll get pretty close to you a few hundred thousand
patient encounters this year. That's really the celebration that we're
most proud of. And again, we are the largest ambilatory
care provider in the Delaware Valley and most people have
never heard of us, and we're perfectly fine with that.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
If people would like to know more about the Greater
Philadelphia Health Action, Inc. How do they find out more?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
They can go right to our website GPHAI NC dot org.
You can get locations you can get services, you can
apply for employment, so if you're looking forward job by
all means. We hire for doctors and psychiatrists and nurses,
but we also hire for security guard and front desk
and folks that work at our call center and our
(09:15):
billing team. We have a very robust employment staff of
six hundred employees that span the gab and in terms
of what they do for us, and it's all the
things that must come together to allow us to take
care of the twelve hundred people to day every day.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Well, i'd like to congratulate you and GPHA for serving
the community fifty five years. Celebrating it's fifty fifth anniversary
celebration Saturday, July twenty sixth at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Brian Clark, Chief executive Officer of Greater Philadelphia Health Action, Inc.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Thank you again for taking the time. We really much
appreciate you and your platform. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Comcast Business powering the engine of modern business power possibilities
CEOs you should know, brought to you by Comcast Business. Today,
we're joined by Brian Clark, Chief executive Officer of Greater
Philadelphia Health Action, Inc. Better known as GPHA. For fifty
five years, the organization has been a pillar in our region,
providing compassionate, high quality healthcare to thousands of individuals and
families across Philadelphia. With a network of health centers offering
(00:23):
integrated medical, dental, and behavioral health services, GPHA continues to
serve as a trusted anchor for wellness in the communities
that need it the most. This year marks a major milestone,
gpaha's fifty fifth anniversary celebration, happening July twenty sixth at
the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a moment to reflect on
decades of service and look ahead to the future of
(00:45):
accessible care for all. So, Brian, you are celebrating fifty
five years of service in Philadelphia. Tell us about the
organization's origins, mission, and the impact it's made over the decadest.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Well, thank you, Thank you for taking the time to
help us share what we do and how we do
it and why we believe it's important. We are fifty
five years old, as you stated, We're having a great
celebration at the Art Museum on the twenty six so
please all come out and enjoy. We started our organization
back in the seventies and it came out of a
(01:18):
lot of the legislation that was passed around the civil
rights movement that started essentially under jfk Up into LBJ,
a lot of the social justice movements, and one of
the bigger components of it was healthcare for the poor.
And say what you want to say about the federal government,
but they did a great thing when they created federally
qualified health centers because it focuses on being a safety
(01:39):
net provider and we see people as part of our mission,
regardless of their ability to pay. Most of our patients
are at or below the poverty guideline and therefore qualify
for Medicaid, but we have quite a few folks that
come in that are uninsured, and based on they could
lose a job and not have insurance. They could be
here visiting on a visa and not have insurance. And
(02:02):
so it is something that we really hold near and
dear to us, which is everyone needs healthcare as a
basic fundamental right. We have been doing this for fifty
five years. We have multiple locations across the city. We
see twelve hundred people today for primary care for all ages,
(02:23):
women's health, optimology, endochronology, rheumatology, infectious disease. We also have
a very large dental program for all ages, and we
are both licensed in both drug and alcohol and mental health.
And we see folks that are battling with substance abuse
and then separately that have a diagnosed mental health order schizophrenia, bipolar, anxiety,
(02:47):
or big drivers of mental health problems, and on the
surface is a lot of times a substance abuse problem.
When you peel the onion, what you find is that
there's a patient or an individual rather that has an
undie no mental health problem and they are self medicating
with alcohol or drugs prescription pills as a way to
(03:09):
help them cope. And when what they don't really understand
because they've never been diagnosed, is that they really have
underlie mental health issue. And so we've been doing this
again for fifty five years. We see roughly twelve hundred
patients a day rain, sleet, or snow. We see more
patients than the hospitals. Hospitals have beds, and you go
and you stay overnight. Our patients come in, get what
(03:29):
they need and go home every day. On top of
the care that we give, we separately have our own pharmacies,
so you can get your prescriptions at our locations or
we can home deliver to you at no charge. And
we also have our own labs where we draw our
own blood and on our own specimens. If you can imagine,
(03:51):
most of us go to the doctor, and we go
in and the doctor touches us on the shoulder and says, okay,
go get blog work and come back. And then we
get blug work and he says, okay, we'll take this
prescription and go get your medication. And the two weeks
come back. And so there's a lot of you to
and then frowing when it comes to healthcare. Go here
for this, go here for that. What we have attempted
(04:12):
to do over a fifty five year period is to
create what we call a total health care home, which
allows patients that are dealing with the social determinants of
health to get as much care that they can at
their provider's office so they don't get bounced around and
sent here and there. Most of us, when we are
(04:32):
told to go get bloodwork. We'll get it, but about
thirty percent don't. Most of us will get our prescriptions,
but about forty percent don't get the prescriptions, and about
fifty percent don't get the refill thirty days later once
we went out. What we try to do is knock
down those barriers for our patients and helpfully to drive
better outcomes.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
You talk about being a community anchor. I wonder if
you can share what that means to you and how
GPHA builds long term relationship so the neighborhoods it serves.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
That's a great point. So in addition to providing care,
and health care is important and the more local you
can make health care, the better you know. Phil Philadelphia,
it's been said, is a city of neighborhoods, and everyone
knows that we have major medical institutions. And if you
had a horrific accident, if you had to conjoin twins
(05:23):
or rare disease, you would get the best care in
the world. But if you have a chronic disease like
a hypertension or diabetas, and you have no insurance, a
low insurance, you'll unfortunately get sicker and sicker and unfortunately
die slowly because of the way the reimbursement structure is
set up in America. And so what health centers doing
(05:47):
with gphahs specifically, is we identify neighborhoods that are what's
called a health care desert, where based on some thousands
of patients, how many primary care are in those communities.
And you'd be surprised that a significant portion of our
neighborhoods are in the shadows of some of the major
best hospitals in the world, but there's no primary care there,
(06:11):
there's no dental there, there's no behavior health in their communities.
And so we identify neighborhoods that have a lack of providers.
We look at the health outcomes of those communities, and
that's how we decide to build facilities and expand services.
We connect with communities exactly in that way. The youth
sports teams, the Girl Scouts, other nonprofits, we support them
(06:35):
in any way that we can to get the word
out that we are a local provider where their provider,
and they don't have to catch a bus and take
the subway or the train to get to basic fundamental health.
They can go down the street and around the corner,
maybe a bus stop away to get to services that
they truly need and that their entire families need. We're
(06:57):
now and at fifty five years serving our of families.
It is very heartening because there are folks that are
with us that say, my mom came, my grandmom came,
and my great grandmom came, and now I'm bringing my children,
and so we're very proud of that.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Let's talk about the big celebration. What can we expect
at the fifty fifth anniversary event and what does this
milestone mean for you and your team.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Well, it's a big deal for us. I mean, if
you think about the number of companies, major household names
we all knew about and they're gone. They're just they
no longer exist. The Blockbuster videos and the Seers and
the JC Tenneys of the world, and I can go
on and on and on. And these are very smart
people that round these companies. They made lots of money
and we all use them and then one day they're
(07:44):
out of business. And so to be around fifty five
years and to be as relevant today as we were
when we started fifty five years ago is certainly an
accomplishment that we are very proud of. It's a blessing
to some extent, but it's also a unfortunate commentary on
the fact that there are not lots of providers trying
(08:05):
to come into our communities and take care of our patients.
And so as much as I'm happy that we are relevant,
the need is still acute in the communities that we serve,
and so the celebration is really a couple of hours
just to say thank you to our team, to our board,
to other folks that have taken an interest in who
we are and what we do. The celebration is really
(08:28):
about the twelve hundred folks we see a day. We
had about two hundred and ninety patient encounters last year.
We'll get pretty close to you a few hundred thousand
patient encounters this year. That's really the celebration that we're
most proud of. And again, we are the largest ambilatory
care provider in the Delaware Valley and most people have
never heard of us, and we're perfectly fine with that.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
If people would like to know more about the Greater
Philadelphia Health Action, Inc. How do they find out more?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
They can go right to our website GPHAI NC dot org.
You can get locations you can get services, you can
apply for employment, so if you're looking forward job by
all means. We hire for doctors and psychiatrists and nurses,
but we also hire for security guard and front desk
and folks that work at our call center and our
(09:15):
billing team. We have a very robust employment staff of
six hundred employees that span the gab and in terms
of what they do for us, and it's all the
things that must come together to allow us to take
care of the twelve hundred people to day every day.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Well, i'd like to congratulate you and GPHA for serving
the community fifty five years. Celebrating it's fifty fifth anniversary
celebration Saturday, July twenty sixth at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Brian Clark, Chief executive Officer of Greater Philadelphia Health Action, Inc.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Thank you again for taking the time. We really much
appreciate you and your platform. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
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