Theresa Berger is the President and Chief Executive Officer Of Ocean Health Initiatives, Inc. – (OHI). She assumed the role in December 2003 when OHI became a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) Look-Alike. In May 2005, OHI received its full designation to become an FQHC, making it the first community health center in Ocean County, NJ.

As President and CEO, Dr. Berger leads an Executive Leadership Team focused on delivering OHI’s vision to provide high quality, accessible and affordable family health care to the area’s residents, regardless of their ability to pay. Under her leadership, OHI has transformed the conventional view of affordable healthcare, transforming OHI from clinic to health center and finally to Patient-Centered Medical Home. OHI currently serves approximately 30,000 patients a year with almost 100,000 visits annually by its staff of over 250 employees. In 2013, OHI was awarded Level 3 Recognition at all of its nine locations by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), which is the highest award for quality recognition that a FQHC can receive.

Dr. Berger has more than 25 years of experience and expertise in ambulatory care settings. Prior to her role at OHI, she served as the Executive Director of the Kimball Medical Center- Neighborhood Health Center where she was responsible for overseeing, managing, coordinating and supervising day-to-day activities for a multi-clinic community healthcare practice consisting of Medical, Pediatric, OB/GYN, Surgical, ENT, and Dental services. Prior to this, she completed her residency by working with HIV/AIDS patients in New York City. She has previously served as the chairwoman for the NJ Primary Care Association.

Dr. Berger also proudly serves as the Mayor of Howell, NJ, the town in which she has been residing with her family for the last 25 years. She has held this position since 2016.

Dr. Berger holds a Doctor of Medicine with concentrations in internal medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN, surgery, geriatric medicine, family practice, and emergency medicine from the Universidad Mexico Americana Del Norte; and a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Wagner College. She is fluent in both English and Spanish.

Theresa was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York but has lived in New Jersey with her husband, Eric, and two sons for over 25 years. Her eldest son has just completed a Master’s degree in Global Governance at UCL in London, UK and her youngest son is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in History at TCNJ in hopes of becoming an educator.”