|
Local Solutions to the State’s Health Care
Crisis:
Health Centers and Legislators Illustrate
Cost-Effectiveness and Quality at
the State House
|
|
Mattapan Community Health Center
Mattapan
|
Representative Peter Koutoujian speaks about the important
role of
health centers in local communities. Rep. Koutoujian is the House
Chair
of the Joint Committee on Public Health.
|
|
Lynn Community
Health Center
Lynn
|
DotWell: Codman Square Health Center and
Dorchester House Multi-Service Center
Dorchester
|
|
Senator Richard Moore
Chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing
|
Greater Roslindale
Medical & Dental Center
Roslindale
|
|
Harbor Health Services, Inc.
Dorchester, Neponset and Mashpee
|
Representative Christine Canavan
Friend of Brockton Community Health Center
|
|
Joseph M. Smith Community Health Center
Allston and Waltham
|
Lowell Community Health Center
Lowell
|
|
Community health centers play a
direct role in the health and well being of their communities. Following is
a quick look at that they are, what they do, who their patients are, and
the impact they have on the overall health system and lives of the people they
serve.
What are Community Health
Centers?
- 53 non-profit community-based organizations serving
one out of every ten people in the Commonwealth – about 677,000 patients
- All
together, the state’s health centers provide care through more than
185 sites across the state. These sites offer primary care, dental
care, school-based health services and other community-based health
services to anyone in need regardless of their insurance status or
ability to pay.
- Provide
culturally sensitive care
- Address
the specific health needs of their communities
Who do Community Health
Centers serve?
- In
total, health centers care for about 43 percent of Massachusetts’
medically underserved
- Nearly
40 percent are insured through MassHealth
- Approximately
40 percent are low-income uninsured and underinsured
- More
than 60 percent belong to an ethnic or racial minority group
- Fewer
than 20 percent are insured by Medicare or commercial insurance
What do Community Health
Centers do?
- Provide
access to high-quality primary health care
- Promote
good health through prevention, education, outreach and social
services: pediatrics, adult medicine, family medicine, obstetrics,
gynecology, laboratory, dental care, mental health, social services,
dermatology, podiatry, acupuncture, elder services, family planning,
hospitalization, home care, nutrition/WIC, specialty referrals, public
health programs, school-based services, pharmacy services, substance
abuse, immunizations, smoking cessation and prevention.
|
|
Representative Kathleen Teahan
Joint Committee on Public Health
|
Fran Anthes, LICSW, Family Health Center of Worcester;
Representative
Douglas Petersen, Representative Peter Koutoujian,
and League President and
CEO James W. Hunt, Jr.
|
|
Manet Community Health Center
Quincy and Hull
|
Senator Jack Hart
Joint Committee on Mental Health & Substance Abuse
|
|
Neighborhood Health Plan
|
North End Community Health Center
North End, Boston
|
|
|
|
