$519K Bolsters Community Health Centers

MassDevelopment’s Community Health Center Grant Program Helps 11 Community Health Centers Fund Equipment, Renovations & Technology-Related Projects

July 24, 2023

Kelsey Schiller, 857-325-3477
kschiller@massdevelopment.com

Photo of Holyoke Health Center, courtesy of the organization, which received a $50,000 grant from MassDevelopment’s Community Health Center Grant Program

BOSTON – MassDevelopment has awarded grants totaling $519,457 to 11 community health centers across Massachusetts to fund capital improvement projects including construction, renovation, equipment, furniture, and technology-related upgrades. The grants were awarded through MassDevelopment’s Community Health Center Grant Program, which offers grants of up to $50,000 each.

“Community health centers play an important role in cities and towns across Massachusetts, providing critical care for families and good jobs for individuals,” said Secretary of Economic Development Yvonne Hao, who serves as chair of MassDevelopment’s Board of Directors. “These centers are vital to the state’s health care system, and we are pleased these grants will support capital improvement projects at centers and help them continue caring for the communities they serve.”

“Community health centers advance health equity and represent a key segment of the Commonwealth’s health care industry, through both the care they provide and the jobs they create,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Dan Rivera. “This funding from our Community Health Center Grant Program will help 11 nonprofit organizations improve facilities and services for communities in Boston and in several Gateway Cities.”

“These resources come at a crucial time for Massachusetts community health centers, as we seek to respond to the increased demand for our services in the wake of COVID-19 and the tremendous amount of unmet need for primary and behavioral health care throughout the Commonwealth, as well as our efforts to meet the moment with the heightened attention to health inequities,” said Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers President and CEO Michael Curry, Esq. “Grants like this will help our members to leverage recently approved state dollars for capital in order to expand access, and we are thankful to MassDevelopment for the Community Health Center Grant Program.”

The following organizations received grants from the Community Health Center Grant Program in FY23:

Duffy Health Center, Barnstable (Hyannis) - $50,000
Established in 1997, Duffy Health Center’s mission is to provide equitable, integrated primary health care and support services to persons who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness on Cape Cod, and to improve the quality of life for vulnerable and marginalized populations through community collaborations, leadership, and advocacy. Duffy offers a patient-centered, team approach of primary care, psychiatry, mental health triage, counseling and therapies, community health worker services, spiritual care, and case management. The organization will use this grant to install a patient bathroom monitoring system (linked to an alarm system) in its facility at 94 Main St. in Hyannis that alerts staff if bathroom occupants are motionless and may be in distress due to an overdose or other medical emergency.

Fenway Health, Boston - $50,000
Fenway Health advocates for and delivers innovative, equitable, accessible health care, supportive services, and transformative research and education to more than 40,000 people annually. The organization centers LGBTQIA+ people, BIPOC individuals, and other underserved communities; for 50 years, Fenway Health has remained one of the few federally qualified health centers with an explicitly LGBTQIA+ focus and an unparalleled commitment to providing culturally competent care. The organization will use this grant to buy a 3D printer for its dental department at 1340 Boylston St. in Boston. The 3D printer will result in better quality appliances and efficiency of services for dental patients by replacing the manual fabrication of appliances, reducing errors, and optimizing materials used for a given device.

Greater Roslindale Medical & Dental Center, Boston - $50,000
The Greater Roslindale Medical and Dental Center (GRMDC) was established in 1977 with the mission to provide accessible and affordable comprehensive primary care services to the residents of Roslindale, Hyde Park, West Roxbury, and contiguous neighborhoods. As a multispecialty site, GRMDC serves the broad health care needs of the community, including family medicine, infant and maternal care, pediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics, gynecology, family planning, podiatry, behavioral health, social services, dentistry, laboratory, immunizations, and substance use disorder. The organization will use this grant to create a flexible patient care suite (three rooms), a multidisciplinary teamwork room, and two new exam rooms within its building at 4199 Washington St. in Boston. This project will allow GRMDC to expand primary and behavioral health care for community members in need.

Mattapan Community Health Center, Boston - $20,243
Mattapan Community Health Center is a Boston-based, private, not-for-profit federally qualified health center that was founded in 1972 and is located in the commercial district of Mattapan Square. Mattapan Community Health Center is the largest employer in Mattapan and the neighborhood’s only comprehensive health center. The health center serves patients from several Boston neighborhoods and surrounding communities. Most of the center’s patients reside in Mattapan, Hyde Park, Dorchester Center, Randolph, Dorchester, Roslindale, Milton, and Brockton. The organization will use this grant to buy and install a new cloud-based camera security system to monitor exterior and interior spaces of its property at 1575 Blue Hill Ave. in Boston.

NEW Health, Boston - $50,000
Founded in 1971 as the first Italian American health center in the United States, North End Community Health Committee, Inc. (NEW Health) is committed to improving the quality of health and life for the residents of Boston’s North End, Waterfront, and Charlestown neighborhoods. An affiliate of Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Medical Center, NEW Health serves patients by providing high-quality health care that is consumer oriented, culturally appropriate, neighborhood based, affordable, and that produces positive outcomes. The organization will use this grant to buy pharmacy and IT equipment for a proposed pharmacy within its facility at 15 Tufts St. in Boston’s Charlestown neighborhood.

Brockton Neighborhood Health Center, Brockton - $49,878
Brockton Neighborhood Health Center (BNHC) is a multicultural health center that provides high-quality and comprehensive health care to the region’s most underserved populations. BNHC offers a wide range of services including primary care for all ages, urgent care, OB-GYN, family planning, behavioral health for youths and adults, social services, nutrition counseling, HIV services, nephrology, endocrinology, dental services, and vision care. BNHC also has an onsite laboratory, pharmacy, and Harm Reduction Clinic, which provides substance use disorder treatment, and staffs a medical services trailer. BNHC will use this grant to support the renovation of the fifth floor of its building at 63 Main St. in downtown Brockton. The organization is planning to convert and replace offices and conference rooms into 17 examination rooms. It will use funds to buy equipment including exam tables, table coverings and upholstery, stools, wall-mounted diagnostic systems, and one power-based exam table.

Holyoke Health Center, Holyoke - $50,000
Founded in 1970, Holyoke Health Center, Inc. (HHC) is the only free-standing comprehensive health center serving adults and children in the greater Holyoke area with an on-site pharmacy, primary medical care, and integrated oral health and behavioral health services. HHC has two full-service sites in Holyoke and Chicopee, as well as dental sites at the Holyoke Soldier’s Home and the Western Massachusetts Hospital in Westfield. The organization will use this grant to advance the renovation of part of its medical building at 230 Maple St. in Holyoke. The renovation will provide a new clinic for HHC Behavioral Health Support Services including a patient waiting area, seven private offices for clinicians to meet with patients, and six cubicles for support staff and community health workers.

Lowell Community Health Center, Lowell - $50,000
Founded in 1970, Lowell CHC provides primary care, OB-GYN/family planning, dental and eye care, behavioral health services, HIV/AIDS services, Office-Based Addiction Treatment (OBAT), and community health and wellness programming. Its mission is to provide quality, caring, and culturally rooted care, regardless of ability to pay. Lowell CHC operates school-based health centers located in Lowell High School and Stoklosa Middle School. The organization will use this grant to buy furniture for its new school-based health center space at Lowell High School, which is part of the school’s larger campus renovation project.

Lynn Community Health Center, Lynn - $49,336
Lynn Community Health Center (LCHC) is a nonprofit community health center that serves as the primary source of health care services in the greater Lynn region. LCHC provides a comprehensive array of high-quality health care services including pediatric, family medicine, adult medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, specialty medical, behavioral health, social services, health education, HIV/AIDS services, nutrition services, dental, pharmacy, radiology, and eye care. In addition to its main site in downtown Lynn, it operates two primary care and behavioral health practices in the West Lynn/Market Square area. The health center also manages eight school-based health centers in the Lynn Public Schools system and provides behavioral health services in 10 additional schools. The organization will use this grant to buy equipment for its Audio-Visual (AV) Technology Project, which aims to improve patient engagement through telehealth solutions. AV equipment will be installed in 14 small- and medium-sized conference/meeting rooms located at its several locations throughout Lynn.

Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, Methuen - $50,000
Since 1980, Greater Lawrence Family Health Center (GLFHC) has worked to improve and maintain the health of individuals and families in Merrimack Valley by providing a network of high-quality, comprehensive health care services and by training health care professionals to respond to the needs of a culturally diverse population. GLFHC currently operates six main clinics, as well as two school-based health centers at Lawrence High School and Greater Lawrence Technical School. The organization will use this grant to purchase a new two-exam-room Mobile Health Unit to supplement its existing Mobile Health Unit and Homeless Medicine program. GLFHC’s Mobile Health Unit provides health care and substance use disorder services to nearly 1,100 patients who are chronically homeless through weekly clinics in Lawrence, Methuen, Haverhill, and Lowell. GLFHC plans to expand services to additional patients in these communities.

Community Healthlink, Worcester - $50,000
Community Healthlink is a nonprofit behavioral health provider organization that provides a broad range of primary care and behavioral health care services for individuals and families across the lifespan. Services include primary care, early intervention, support and stabilization, Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative services, outpatient behavioral health, community-based acute treatment, acute detoxification and stabilization, emergency services, crisis stabilization, community support, group home, residential recovery, supportive housing, and services for homeless individuals. The organization will use this grant to renovate the cafeteria at its facility at 12 Queens St. in Worcester. Renovations will include new floors, fryer electrical upgrade, a delivery door, food storage racks, and other food prep items.

MassDevelopment, the state’s development finance agency and land bank, works with businesses, nonprofits, banks, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2022, MassDevelopment financed or managed 356 projects generating investment of more than $1.69 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are estimated to create or support 11,080 jobs and build or preserve 1,778 housing units.