June 9, 2021

Atlas Anagnos, Director of Operations

Central, Life@Work

My dad’s family is Greek. His parents and older brothers came to the U.S. from Greece in 1951 and my dad was the first of his family born in America. When I was born, he wanted to give me a good, strong Greek name so Atlas is where they landed. I’ve never met another Atlas to this day! I grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, where my parents had a private pediatric practice. My mom was a pediatrician and my dad was the office manager. My first job at age 16 was working in the front office, pulling files for them before they saw patients. So they think it’s a hoot that it’s come full circle with me being in healthcare administration today.

After college, I received a Fulbright grant and spent a year in Munich, Germany, for an English teaching assistant program. I thought I was going to be a language teacher. I loved teaching, but after working in a school district, it wasn’t where I saw myself fitting. So I went back to business school and started my healthcare career working for the VA health system in San Francisco. I joined CentraCare in 2018 and I feel privileged getting to work with people that are doing the actual work every day – the caregivers, nutrition aides, housekeepers and others. I see my purpose as helping my team remove barriers that make their lives and work difficult. Sometimes I’m able to remove those barriers and sometimes I help through mentoring so they can remove them. My team is my biggest source of inspiration.