Patients & Services

Massachusetts community health centers care for patients of all ages and racial and ethnic backgrounds, and represent a major source of care for medically underserved women and children. Health center patients are disproportionately low-income, publicly insured or uninsured, and are at higher risk for contracting chronic and complex diseases.

Board-certified physicians along with physician assistants, nurse practitioners and registered nurses lead highly skilled medical staffs at community health centers. Health center physicians are trained in a range of primary care disciplines, including internal, pediatric and family medicine, as well as gynecology and obstetrics. Health centers also employ social workers, dentists, optometrists, certified nurse midwives, community health workers, nutritionists, counselors and other health professionals to help improve health outcomes for their patients. In addition, health centers have strong referral relationships with their local hospitals and, in many cases, have specialists on staff such as dermatologists, psychiatrists, podiatrists, and ophthalmologists.

In order to address the complex health needs of the communities they serve, health centers work to screen, prevent and manage chronic diseases like diabetes, asthma, HIV/AIDS, cancer and depression; reduce low birthweights in newborns; and offer a range of programs and services that promote overall health and wellness, including: