Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts Appoints Dr. Alice Bukhman as New Health Care Advocate

Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts Appoints Dr. Alice Bukhman as New Health Care Advocate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOSTON, December 28, 2021 – Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts (PLS) is pleased to announce the employment of Dr. Alice Bukhman as the organization’s first professional healthcare advocate. The Healthcare Advocate position is new to PLS. In her part-time role, Dr. Bukhman is engaged in both individual advocacy and in helping the organization think strategically about systemic solutions to the many problems faced by those incarcerated in accessing basic healthcare. The position is also focused on building greater health equity by taking a public health approach to prison healthcare rather than treating it as an isolated system. Similarly, Dr. Bukhman is supporting PLS’ work in advocating for improved and expanded access to community based treatment rather than incarceration for those who struggle with mental health issues and substance use disorder.

“We are thrilled and fortunate to have Alice on the PLS team,” said Elizabeth Matos, PLS’s Executive Director. “Alice’s extensive experience with emergency medicine will be invaluable to informing PLS’s approach to medical issues within the carceral system.” 

An important aspect of PLS’ work is remaining actively engaged in medical advocacy, access to reasonable accommodations, medical parole petitioning, and alternatives to incarceration, especially for those suffering from addiction. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, this area of our work has become increasingly urgent. Alongside a coalition of advocacy organizations, we are working to increase compassionate release and independent oversight of medical issues, including through a class action lawsuit, Foster v. Mici. Dr. Bukhman’s expertise will help further these efforts. 

Dr. Bukhman studied Human Biology at Brown University before earning her MPH in Epidemiology at Boston University. She later attended the University of California, San Francisco for medical school. She completed her residency in Emergency Medicine at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Bukhman specializes in emergency medicine, focusing on clinical innovation in the area of care delivery models both domestically and in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Dr. Bukhman’s first job after her residency was Academic Director for the emergency departments at Cambridge Health Alliance. She then went on to serve as the Rwanda country director for a Columbia University program to support emergency medicine training in rural and low resource settings. Since 2016, Dr. Bukhman has been an attending physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she has had a variety of administrative roles and currently serves as the Director of Clinical Operations for the Faulkner Emergency Department. Dr. Bukhman is also an Instructor at Harvard Medical School. 

“I am excited to have the opportunity to merge my past experience in medicine with my interest in health equity,” said Bukhman. PLS has done excellent work in this field and I look forward to collaborating with its dynamic staff.  

When she is not at work, Dr. Bukhman keeps busy with her 10-year-old twins making art of out of found junk, hiking around New England and swimming in any body of water she can find.

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