Richard K. Merchant
CEO
Health WorkForce New York
Brooklyn-Queens-Long Island Area Health Education Center
Central New York Area Health Education Center
Northern Area Health Education Center
Richard Merchant currently serves as the CEO for four nonprofit organizations: the Brooklyn-Queens-Long Island Area Health Education Center in Brooklyn, New York; the Northern Area Health Education Center in Potsdam, New York; the Central New York Area Health Education Center in Cortland, New York; and Health WorkForce New York in Syracuse, New York.
Prior to his current post, Merchant served as a faculty member at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, College of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine in Houston, Texas. He currently teaches medical anthropology at the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
Merchant is immediate past president of the New York State Association for Rural Health. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization and a Founding Board Member of the Health Workforce Collaborative. He is also an active member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, the New York State AHEC System Executive Council, the Social Enterprise Alliance and numerous other state and national boards and associations. He has to his credit over 50 invited presentations and papers at national and international professional meetings and conferences.
He earned his bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and his master's degree from the University of Florida. He conducted his doctoral work in medical anthropology at Texas A&M University.
