What Drives Dr. Harris

Curiosity and a desire to help others have fueled the career of Lisa Harris, senior vice president and chief medical officer of Excellus BlueCross BlueShield

By Mike Costanza

 

As a young girl living in Rochester, Lisa Harris decided to set her sights on a career that would satisfy her curiosity about the human body and her desire to help others.

“At age 12, I really wanted to be a physician,” the 62-year-old Rochester resident said.

Over nearly 30 years in medicine, Harris has cared for thousands of patients and held increasingly responsible administrative positions in healthcare institutions in the Rochester area and as far away as Binghamton. Currently, she serves as the senior vice president and chief medical officer of Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, the Rochester-based health insurance firm that serves 1.5 million people.

Harris grew up in a family that valued hard work, learning and a commitment to others.

“My parents felt that you need to be active in the community,” she said. “They made sure that we had exposure to the arts, to the political climate, to volunteerism.”

The Hon. Roy King, Harris’s late father, sometimes tried to teach those values to his four children by telling stories from his own life. One was about the way he got his first job in the US.

King had just emigrated from the Bahamas and was living in New York City. When he tried to get work at one of the Safeway grocery chain’s stores, the owner turned him down, but offered to pay him a day’s wages if he cleaned the store’s basement.

“He cleaned up that basement until it was sparkling,” Harris said. “His work ethic earned him a job.”

He married, moved to Syracuse with his wife and enrolled at the Syracuse University College of Law. Upon graduating, he took his family to Rochester. After practicing law for more than 30 years, he was appointed to the Rochester City Court bench in 1997. In 2002, he was promoted to supervising judge.

“He was the first African American supervising judge for city court in the city of Rochester,” Harris said.

His example and his lessons have benefited Harris all through her life.

“He had always encouraged us to, whatever you do, do your best,” she said. “That has just been something that has been part of my fabric from day one.”

Lucille, Harris’ late mother, took care of the family’s home, managed the office of her husband’s law practice and was active in Democratic politics. She served on the Democratic National Committee, the National Black Caucus and the DNC rules committee and was a delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention. When Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to Congress, made her unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for president, Lucille took her place as a delegate to the convention.

After the Democratic Party nominated George McGovern to run for president, Harris pitched in for the candidate.

“As a child, I remember, during the McGovern campaign, setting up storefronts for the campaign…handing out literature, just being very active in the community,” she said.

Local issues also drew her attention. When the Rochester City Council considered a plan to clean up the Genesee River and Lake Ontario, though she was 7 or 8 years old, Harris presented her views on the subject.

“I remember testifying as a child in front of city council about the need to have clean water,” Harris said.

She also demonstrated a curiosity early on about how the bodies of living things worked.

“I used to take my mother’s best silverware and dissect insects to kind of see what they looked like on the inside,” Harris said. “Until she caught me.”

That eventually led Harris to set her sights on a career in medicine. She initially wanted to become a neurosurgeon, but switched direction after acquiring a bachelor’s degree in the neurosciences at the University of Rochester. Harris then headed off to the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, intending to become a primary care physician.

“I really wanted to have hands-on, frontline understanding [of] how does disease work, how do you make a diagnosis, how do you help somebody overcome that particular illness and lead a healthier life,” she said.

Harris graduated from Morehouse in 1991 and then completed a residency in internal medicine and pediatrics. She then took a position at Highland Hospital’s Downtown Health Care Center, where she provided primary care in internal medicine and pediatrics to patients.

In 2003, Harris opened her own solo primary care practice in internal medicine and pediatrics in Rochester. By 2013, it had grown to have more than 3,000 patients on its roster. That year, Harris moved to Binghamton to become the chief medical officer of Our Lady of Lourdes Memorial Hospital, Inc. [now Guthrie Lourdes Hospital]. In addition to her administrative duties, she treated patients two or three days a week.

In 2018, Harris joined Excellus BlueCross BlueShield as a medical director for the health insurance giant.

“It really came down to…the best way to impact the greatest number of lives,” Harris said. “I could do that through a practice…or I could look at being involved in a health plan and impact over a million lives.”

Despite her busy schedule at Excellus, Harris worked part-time as a physician for the Rochester Regional Health System until the end of 2022, when her duties prevented her from continuing in that role. The decision to cease directly caring for patients wasn’t an easy one.

“I miss clinical medicine and I miss my patients,” Harris said.

In early 2023, Harris became Excellus’ senior vice president and chief medical officer. The roles encompass a wide range of responsibilities.

“I am accountable for clinical innovation that delivers a member-centric care model to drive engagement, clinical quality, equitable access and appropriate care at the lowest cost and enables provider efficiency and satisfaction,’ Harris said.

Harris said she is also responsible for Excellus’ “disease and care management, clinical quality and affordability programs,” and for “ensuring the policies, programs and services we provide to and for our members are affordable, equitable, medically necessary and results in improved healthcare outcomes.”

In addition to performing her regular duties, Harris has mentored other women at work, particularly women of color.

“It’s really important for people of color to see someone of color that’s in a leadership role and to help them become the best that they can,” she said.

Though dedicated to her job, Harris makes sure to balance its many responsibilities with an active personal life. Her faith has been a particularly strong support down through the years.

“My relationship with Jesus Christ guides and directs me to love everyone and be of service to everyone,” Harris said.

She has shown that dedication to service at the New Progressive Cathedral C.O.G.I.C. (Church of God in Christ) where she heads the missionary department. Among her many duties, she oversees some of the church’s services to the homeless.

“We do what we call ‘homeless bags’ right now, where we provide socks, some snacks and a small amount of cash,” Harris said. “You see someone who’s homeless, you just hand it out.”

In 2006, Harris’s desire to serve others led her to spend a week in Nairobi, Kenya, as part of a group of African American physicians who were voluntarily treating the poor for free. For her, the experience felt like a return to home.

“Being an African American in this country, you don’t have a full sense of your roots and where you’re from,” Harris said. “It was just a feeling of completion to be in Kenya and see people that looked like me.”

Harris has also been an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. since she was a University of Rochester student and is in her second term as president of the sorority’s Delta Nu Omega Chapter.

On her off time, the married mother of two grown children enjoys spending time with her husband of 32 years, Torye, an elementary school teacher. In addition to once-a-week date nights and once-a-year weekends away, they enjoy heading to the ski slopes in winter and the golf links when the weather warms.

“I try to hack at golf with my husband,” Harris said. “He’s really good.”

The avid seamstress also enjoys sewing her own outfits and undergoing “retail therapy,” especially when it yields a new pair of shoes.

“You can never have enough shoes,” Harris said.

 

Five Things You Didn’t Know

1. Physician Lisa Harris modeled for a clothing designer as an undergraduate student and considered doing it as a career.

2. She can whip up something to wear from scratch.

3. When interviewed, Harris refused to say how many shoes she has. “You can never have enough shoes,” she said.

4. In the past, Harris has appeared on “Second Opinion”, the PBS television show that helps people acquire good health, stay healthy and make their way through the healthcare system.

5. She’s the oldest child in her original family and has three grown brothers.

 

Active in Her Sorority

Joan Anderson, public relations chairwoman of the Delta Nu Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., first met Lisa Harris in the 1980s. Anderson worked for the University of Rochester at the time, Harris was a student at the school and both were members of the sorority.

“I thought she was a very nice person, very outgoing and responsible,” Anderson said.

Since then, Harris has given her sorority the benefit of her energy and skills.

“She is caring and she’s compassionate and she has a lot of innovative ideas,” Anderson said. “She likes to keep up with the current trends and she uses that for the advantage of the sorority.”

That knowledge of current trends helped the Delta Nu Omega Chapter continue functioning despite the restrictions that were instituted to limit the spread of COVID-19.

“When she was programming chair during the pandemic, she kept in touch with everyone via Zoom or through cell phone calls,” Anderson said.

Harris has also been the vice president of her chapter and is in her second term as president. (MC)

Joan Anderson, public relations chairwoman of the Delta Nu Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.: “She likes to keep up with the current trends and she uses that for the advantage of the sorority.”

 

‘An Inspiring Woman’

Melissa Gardner, executive vice president of Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, praised physician Lisa Harris, her co-worker.

“She is a deep and inspiring woman,” said Gardner, who has known Harris for nearly 10 years and considers her a friend.

Gardner has often been inspired by Harris’s ability to find simple solutions to complex problems.

“That always just makes me think more, think better, think harder and I’ve always appreciated that about her,” Gardner said.

Harris’ use of personal stories about her childhood, family and interests to guide others has been both entertaining and instructive.

“Every time I hear her speak, I just get more and more interested in hearing more, because she’s passionate about all the things she does, whether it’s her church, her sorority or her family or her clinical practice,” Gardner said.

She also seeks to guide others through her own actions.

“The theme of ‘Show up, be a role model and people will come with you’ I would absolutely say is how she leads, and a key part of her success and why she has so many people who admire and follow her,” Gardner said.

Harris also encourages the women with whom she works to advance.

“She’s constantly championing our women to be better and to push themselves,” Gardner said. (MC)

Melissa Gardner, executive vice president of Excellus BlueCross BlueShield: “She’s constantly championing our women to be better and to push themselves.”