Pediatricians and nurses at Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center are sending families home from checkups with free books and a very important prescription – “read aloud to your children every day.” Today, Senator Karen Spilka (D-Ashland), visited the health center, not only to cheer them on, but to practice what doctors preach by reading to a group of young patients.

Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center participates in Reach Out and Read, a program that prepares America’s youngest children to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together.

Doctors, nurse practitioners, and other medical professionals incorporate Reach Out and Read’s evidence-based model into regular pediatric checkups, by advising parents about the importance of reading aloud and giving developmentally-appropriate books to children.

Through Reach Out and Read, each child starts kindergarten with a home library of up to 10 books and a parent who has heard at every health supervision visit about the importance of books and reading. The program begins with newborn babies and continues through age 5, with a special emphasis on children growing up in low-income communities.

The program has gained broad support on Beacon Hill.

“I’m pleased to have this opportunity to visit a MetroWest Reach Out and Read site to experience this terrific program first-hand,” said Senator Spilka. “We need to make sure we’re giving all kids the tools they need to learn and succeed in school. Engaging families in literacy programs is key for the future of kids and communities across the Commonwealth.”

Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center is one of 7 programs in Senator Spilka’s district that participate in Reach Out and Read, providing books to more than 5780 children annually.

Reach Out and Read reaches more than 188,829 infants, toddlers and preschoolers each year at 301 locations across the Commonwealth.

“As we all know, and confirmed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, reading definitely has an impact on a child’s growth and development,” comments Dr. Shah-Canning. “Reach Out and Read provides a great opportunity to hand a child /parent a book at our well child visits and discuss the importance of early and emergent literacy. It’s been incredibly satisfying to watch a child’s interest in reading flourish as they ask for books at their sick visits and one for their siblings too.”

Families served by Reach Out and Read read together more often, and their children enter kindergarten with larger vocabularies and stronger language skills, better prepared to achieve their potential.

“Research shows that if you intervene in the first five years of life and partner with parents, you can dramatically improve the early literacy skills of a child, putting them on the track for success in school and in life,” said Reach Out and Read Executive Director Brian Gallagher. “Childhood development experts tell us that the most important thing that parents can do to prepare their children to succeed in school is to read aloud to them every day. “

The Reach Out and Read model is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the program has one of the strongest records of research support of any primary care intervention.

Reach Out and Read doctors and nurses distribute over 6.5 million books to more than 4 million children and their families annually at 5,000 pediatric practices, hospitals, clinics and health centers in all 50 states.

More than 20,000 medical providers nationwide currently participate in Reach Out and Read.

For more information, visit www.reachoutandread.org.

Back row L-R: Dr. Deval Shah-Canning, Medical Director Kennedy CHC-Framingham, Clifford the Dog, Senator Karen Spilka, Toni McGuire, President and CEO, Kennedy CHC

Front row: Children from Head Start in Framingham

 

 

The Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center announces that Brian Sullivan, M.D., a resident of Rutland, MA has accepted the position of Assistant Medical Director at the Health Center’s flagship medical facility, located at 19 Tacoma Street, Worcester, MA.  Dr. Sullivan has been a clinical provider with Kennedy CHC since 2013 working primarily with refugee populations in the Tacoma Street Urgent Care department.

In addition to his work at Kennedy CHC, Dr. Sullivan has been associated with Barre Family Medical Center, a part of the UMass Medical Group, since 2013.  His past experience includes serving as an attending physician for Community Health Centers, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT.  Dr. Sullivan has also participated in various volunteer efforts including working at the Baan Dada Orphanage and Kwai River Hospital in Thailand.

A graduate of Boston College, Dr. Sullivan received his Doctor of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.  He did his internship and residency at the University of Utah where he served as Chief Resident and was awarded Intern of the Year.

The Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center announces that it has received a $20,000 grant from the Fallon/OrNda Community Fund of the Greater Worcester Community Foundation.   The funds will support dental equipment for a new dental operatory at the Health Center’s flagship medical facility at 19 Tacoma Street, Worcester. The additional exam room will help to open up access to dental care for Kennedy CHC patients.

Kennedy CHC provides comprehensive medical services to over 28,000 patients in Central Massachusetts and MetroWest. It operates three medical facilities, four dental sites and six school-based health clinics in Worcester, Framingham, Milford and Clinton.

The Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center announces that its President and CEO, Antonia “Toni” G. McGuire, a resident of Westborough, MA, was recently honored at the Community College of Rhode Island’s (CCRI) 50^th anniversary celebration. Twenty-six alumni were recognized at the event, with three individuals receiving special outstanding achievement awards representing the three academic divisions of the College. Ms. McGuire received the award for outstanding achievement in the division of Health and Rehabilitative Services, having received her Associate of Science in Nursing at CCRI.

Since receiving her degree at CCRI and eventual RN, Ms. McGuire went on to earn her bachelor’s degree from Maryville University in St. Louis, MO. While serving as the Health Services Director at the Family Care Health Center in St. Louis, she received a United States Public Health Service scholarship and earned her master’s in public health from St. Louis University.

Ms. McGuire worked for the National Association of Community Health Centers as the Vice President of Clinical Services, and traveled across the United States assisting health centers to determine their readiness for working in a managed care environment. After moving to Massachusetts, she assumed the role of System Director for Health Education and Promotion at Fallon Health Care System. And when asked, Ms. McGuire assisted in helping to organize the first ever Department of Family Medicine at Boston Medical Center (BMC) as the Director of Administration and Community Affairs. Among her many accomplishments at BMC, she worked with others to establish a Family Practice Residency program embedded in Boston community health centers. After serving as the CEO for Manet Community Health Center in Quincy, she joined Kennedy CHC in 2008.

During her acceptance speech at the CCRI awards ceremony, Ms. McGuire thanked the many individuals who supported her, as well as gave credit to her many teachers at the College. “No one ever really walks this path alone,” Ms. McGuire shared. “Teachers invested in me, and helped turn my work into something bigger than me and bigger than life. If you invest in one person, you invest in a community.”

(L-R)  Toni McGuire, President and CEO of Kennedy CHC, with CCRI President, Ray Di Pasquale

NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home™ standards emphasize enhanced care through patient-clinician partnership

WASHINGTON, DC—The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) announces that the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center based in Worcester, Massachusetts has received NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition (Level III status) for using evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated care and long‐term, participative relationships.

The NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home is a model of primary care that combines teamwork and information technology to improve care, improve patients’ experience of care and reduce costs. Medical homes foster ongoing partnerships between patients and their personal clinicians, instead of approaching care as the sum of episodic office visits. Each patient’s care is overseen by clinician-led care teams that coordinate treatment across the health care system. Research shows that medical homes can lead to higher quality and lower costs, and can improve patient and provider reported experiences of care.

“NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition raises the bar in defining high-quality care by emphasizing access, health information technology and coordinated care focused on patients,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “Recognition shows that Kennedy CHC has the tools, systems and resources to provide its patients with the right care, at the right time.”

To earn recognition, which is valid for three years, Kennedy CHC demonstrated the ability to meet the program’s key elements, embodying characteristics of the medical home. NCQA standards aligned with the joint principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home established with the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Osteopathic Association.

To find clinicians and their practices with NCQA PCMH Recognition, visit https://recognition.ncqa.org.

About NCQA
NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA’s Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS^®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA’s Web site (ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.

About Kennedy CHC
The mission of Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center (Kennedy CHC) is to “help people live healthier lives.”   We believe that everyone has a right to accessible, high quality, comprehensive, integrated and compassionate health care. As a community health center, Kennedy CHC has always provided comprehensive care to its patients, who are at disparate risk for chronic disease and poor health outcomes. Our vision is to be a constantly growing, financially sound, Federally Qualified Community Health Center that:

 – Efficiently delivers high quality, accessible primary care services.
– Becomes the health care home and provider choice of all our patients.
– Achieves excellence in outcomes with our patients as partners.
– Remains at the forefront of innovative health care practices.

Founded in a Worcester housing project as the Great Brook Valley Health Center in 1972, today Kennedy CHC has three medical facilities, four dental sites and six school-based clinics serving residents of Worcester, Framingham, Clinton, Milford, and the surrounding communities of MetroWest and Central Massachusetts. Currently over 28,000 patients of all ages receive care and service through Kennedy CHC’s medical home model of care which provides a comprehensive approach to primary care, urgent care, medical specialties, nutrition counseling, dental, optometry, pharmacy, behavioral health, social services, health education and youth development programs.

Members of Worcester’s State Delegation to Visit Kennedy CHC School-Based Clinic

Senator Harriett Chandler will be in Attendance at tour of Burncoat Junior/Senior High Health Clinic

Who:   Worcester Delegation:

Senator Harriett Chandler
State Representative John Mahoney: 13^th Worcester District
State Representative Dan Donahue: 16^th Worcester District
State Representative Mary Keefe: 15^th Worcester District
State Representative Jim O’Day: Worcester/West Boylston

What: Tour of Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center’s School-Based Clinic

Where: Burncoat Junior/Senior High School

       135 Burncoat Street (Junior High facility)

       Worcester, MA   01606

When: Friday, March 6, 2015 at 10:00 a.m.

Worcester, MA (March 4, 2015) The Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center announces that the following members of Worcester’s state delegation will be visiting one of its school-based health clinics located at Burncoat Junior/Senior High on Friday, March 6^th at 10:00 a.m.

Senator Harriett Chandler

State Representative John Mahoney: 13^th Worcester District

State Representative Dan Donahue: 16^th Worcester District

State Representative Mary Keefe: 15^th Worcester District

State Representative Jim O’Day: Worcester/West Boylston

The Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center announces that Valerie Zolezzi-Wyndham, JD, has recently been elected Chair of its Board of Directors.  Ms. Zolezzi-Wyndham joined the Board in 2008 and became its Vice-Chair in 2013, and has served on a number of committees including the Finance, By-Laws & Nominating, Quality Care and Advancement Committees.   She brings with her a vast knowledge of community health centers and has been the driving force in bringing the medical legal partnership model to central Massachusetts.

Ms. Zolezzi-Wyndham worked at Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts for over seven years before the program joined with Western Massachusetts Legal Services to form Community Legal Aid in 2011. From 2002-2004, she was an attorney in the benefits unit, handling welfare matters, employment issues, and MassHealth cases. In 2004 Valerie received the Innovations in Legal Services Award in recognition of her vision in creating the Family Advocates of Central Massachusetts, LACCM’s medical-legal collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

From 2004-2007, Ms. Zolezzi-Wyndham was the Regional Training Director at the Center for Legal Aid Education, a Boston-based organization that provides continuing education and training to equal justice attorneys and staff across the country.

In her position as Director of Training and Professional Development from 2007-2011, Ms. Zolezzi-Wyndham planned, provided and coordinated training and professional development for all staff.  She also oversees CLA’s Family Advocates of Central Massachusetts program.

Ms. Zolezzi-Wyndham’s community involvement includes working for the protection of women’s rights, including health, homelessness, violence, and food insecurity.

Ms. Zolezzi-Wyndham is a graduate of Boston College and received her JD from Boston University School of Law.  She is fluent in Spanish and French.

Collaboration with MCPHS University will Open Access to
Vision Care for Kennedy CHC Patients in MetroWest

The Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center (Kennedy CHC) announces that it has opened an optometry practice at 72 Union Street, Framingham, Massachusetts. Through a partnership with the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS University), Kennedy CHC will now be able to offer vision care services to its patients living in the greater MetroWest area.

Currently, Kennedy CHC patients have to travel to Worcester to receive optometry services at the Health Center’s flagship medical facility. Through a partnership with MCPHS University, students and preceptors associated with the University’s Doctor of Optometry program will now be available in Framingham to see Kennedy CHC patients in need of vision care and services.  The addition of vision care will help round out the other medical, behavioral and dental services that Kennedy CHC is already providing to the MetroWest community.

“We are excited to open up this new optometry practice in Framingham,” states Toni G. McGuire, President and CEO of Kennedy CHC. “By working collaboratively with MCHPS, our patients in the greater MetroWest area will finally have access to vision care right in their own community, a much needed service in this region.”

Headquartered in Worcester, Massachusetts, Kennedy CHC operates medical and dental facilities in Framingham and a medical facility in Milford, which serves both the Worcester and MetroWest communities.   Patients who receive care through one of Kennedy CHC’s medical sites are able to access vision care at the new Framingham optometry practice.

Worcester, MA (January 14, 2015). The Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center wishes to acknowledge the generous gifts of the following local and regional foundations for their confidence in and support of the organization’s mission and achievements.

Agnes M. Lindsay Trust
Awarded Kennedy CHC with a $4,968 grant to purchase dental equipment for its dental practice.

George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Foundation
Awarded Kennedy CHC with a $50,000 grant to assist in purchasing furnishings for its new administrative site, and $80,000 to help cover the cost of a new roof at the medical facility at 19 Tacoma Street, Worcester, MA.

George I. Alden Trust
Awarded Kennedy CHC with a $125,000 grant to assist with the expansion of its optometry practice, which includes the rehab of an existing building at 631 Lincoln Street in Worcester to accommodate a collaborative effort with the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences University.

Hoche-Scofield Foundation
Awarded Kennedy CHC with a $25,000 grant to cover the remaining cost of replacing the roof at its medical facility at 19 Tacoma Street in Worcester.

Stoddard Charitable Trust
Awarded Kennedy CHC with a $100,000 grant to assist with the expansion of its optometry practice, which includes the rehab of an existing building at 631 Lincoln Street in Worcester to accommodate a collaborative effort with the Massachusetts College Pharmacy and Health Sciences University.

The Health Foundation of Central Mass
Awarded Kennedy CHC with a $20,000 grant to continue its work in expanding our Milford medical practice.

United Healthcare
Awarded Kennedy CHC with a $5,000 grant to support its interpreter services program.

The Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center holiday hours are as follows:

December 24, 2014
Closing at 1:00pm

December 25, 2014
CLOSED

December 31, 2014
Closing at 1:00pm

January 1, 2015
CLOSED