As a Patient Centered Medical Home, CHC of Cape Cod holds itself to the highest standards.  Ensuring patients have access to care when they need it and request it, and validating that staff are working at the top of their licensures, are foundations of this model. CHC is proud to announce the recent launch of a Patient Engagement Center (PEC) designed to help strengthen those foundations.

The initial focus of the PEC is on managing inbound calls and scheduling appointments with Mashpee primary care providers. Two full-time Patient Access staff members are tasked with answering every live call that reaches the Mashpee operator. Patient Engagement protocols will guide staff when an appointment should be scheduled with the primary care provider, and this should reduce the opportunities callers have to circumvent the operator. Rather than forwarding calls onto the medical teams, Patient Access staff will create telephone encounters in their electronic health records system which will be routed to the team clinical administrators or nursing staff.

Ultimately, the aim of the Patient Engagement Center is to allow CHC of Cape Cod to sustain all facets of Patient Engagement: supporting clinical teams with patient care, working with the Complex Care team as they reach out to patients newly discharged from the hospital, and registering and orienting new patients. Creating a robust program for patient engagement is critical to helping the Health Center maintain its strategic goals: high quality patient centered care, operational excellence, a sustainable business model, and a destination for outstanding people.

Community Health Center of Cape Cod has hired two practitioners to meet their increasing demands for behavioral health and primary care services: Sharon Cicchetti, MSN, FNP-BC and Barbara Hayes, LICSW, MSW.

Ms. Cicchetti has extensive experience in Family Practice having spent several years in a busy practice in Sacramento, California, and more recently at the Lahey Clinic in Peabody, Massachusetts.  She joined the Family Medicine team in Mashpee and will also serve as a provider for Walk-in care. Ms. Cicchetti has an undergraduate degree from University of Massachusetts at Amherst, graduating with honors, and a graduate degree in nursing from Boston College, where she won the Patricia Ibert Scholars Award in 2001.

Ms. Hayes provides behavioral health services in Community Health Center of Cape Cod’s Bourne office. Prior to joining the team at CHC, she worked as a psychotherapist in private practice at Garda Counseling in Yarmouth Port and as a mental health clinician at the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office.   Barbara also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law Enforcement and worked for the Weston Police Department for over 20 years as a Family Services Officer.  Barbara enjoys volunteering for Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and is actively involved in the PMC, Jimmy Fund Walk, and various other events.

For more information about CHC of Cape Cod’s services, visit: www.chcofcapecod.org/services

Community Health Center of Cape Cod hosted its Summer Solstice Celebration on June 22, 2017. This kickoff event to their year-long 20th Anniversary celebration was a great success that raised both awareness and funds to directly benefit their mission to improve the health of the community through the provision of comprehensive, high-quality, compassionate healthcare to all, regardless of ability to pay.

Heath Center board members, staff, sponsors and supporters enjoyed local favorites from Washashore Bakery, Cape and Islands Distillery, Naukabout Beer and Cape Cod Coffee and were treated to music from Brian Maxwell Kerins of Flydown.  Karen Gardner, Community Health Center of Cape Cod’s Chief Executive Officer, welcomed the crowd, and Board President Dave Peterson spoke about the importance of community health centers and affordable care.

In 1997, the Health Center was founded as the volunteer-run Falmouth Free Clinic, completing 600 visits in the basement of Falmouth Hospital in their first year.  Community Health Center of Cape Cod is now a patient centered medical home serving more than 15,000 patients with offices in Falmouth, Mashpee and Bourne.  This evening celebrated the growth, expansion and progress that the Health Center has made over the last 20 years, as the healthcare home of choice for so many in the community.

Community Health Center of Cape Cod will host its Summer Solstice Celebration, Thursday, June 22, 2017 at 6:00 pm.  The event marks the kickoff to the Health Center’s yearlong Celebration of 20 Years since it was founded as the Falmouth Free Clinic.

The Summer Solstice Celebration is a fundraiser for the Health Center, featuring lite fare from Eat Your Heart Out Catering, music from Flydown band, and tastes from local favorites, including Washashore Bakery, Cape and Islands Distillery, and Cape Cod Coffee. Proceeds from the evening will support Community Health Center of Cape Cod’s mission: to improve the health of our community through the provision of comprehensive, high-quality, compassionate health care to all, regardless of ability to pay.

Please consider joining us to cover this local fundraiser, which promises to be a great evening.  More information about the Summer Solstice is below.

Event Date: Thursday, June 22, 2017

Time: Event begins at 6:00 pm
Welcome & remarks from Karen Gardner, CEO at approximately 7:30 pm

Location: Community Health Center of Cape Cod, 107 Commercial Street, Mashpee

Media Contact: Alex Speck

Media Contact Phone: (917) 509-6813 (day of event)

Media Contact Email: [email protected]

Community Health Center of Cape Cod has appointed Yvonne Nickerson, LICSW, as their Addiction Program Manager. Ms. Nickerson joined the behavioral health team at CHC of Cape Cod as a counselor in August 2014. Since then, she has been conducting psychological assessments of all incoming behavioral health patients in the Bourne office. She has also served as an addictions therapist and a facilitator of the Health Center’s Office Based Opioid Treatment Program. Ms. Nickerson previously worked at Gosnold in Falmouth as a Treatment Coordinator, demonstrating her expertise and passion for substance abuse treatment. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education and Care from University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Masters of Social Work from Boston University. She is a resident of Mashpee.

The Health Center believes everyone deserves accessible, affordable, high-quality care and is committed to expanding medical and behavioral health services for substance use disorder prevention and treatment. The Health Center will be expanding access to an office based outpatient, medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program and will be expanding program design to provide partial day treatment, including intensive, integrated wellness, medical and mental health counseling. This Structured Outpatient Addictions Program (SOAP) will strengthen integration with behavioral health services to expand its scope beyond substance abuse to overall pain and addictions management. The program will provide barrier assessments, community education and referrals to provide patients with the necessary tools to live a healthy drug and alcohol-free life.

For more information about the Substance Abuse Treatment Program at the Health Center, visit www.chcofcapecod.org.

Please consider joining us tonight to cover the launch of a monthly Substance Abuse Drop-In Night from 4-8 p.m. at Community Health Center of Cape Cod. Created by the Mashpee Substance Use Task Force, the drop-in night will provide treatment options, counseling and education to individuals and families struggling with substance use and addiction. It’s free and open to everyone and will have many different human services organizations represented, including CHC of Cape Cod, South Bay Mental Health Center, Gosnold, Duffy Health Center, Adcare, and Parents Supporting Parents. The drop-in night will be run as an open house with five to 10 “recovery angels” offering active users and their loved ones support. There will also be a clinician available at each session to meet with individuals and to get them appropriate treatment.

More information about the Drop-In Night is below:

Event Date: June 6, 2017 (recurring the first Tuesday of every month thereafter)*
(*The July 2017 session will be held on July 11 due to the holiday)

Time: Open House: 4-8 PM

Location: Community Health Center of Cape Cod, 107 Commercial Street, Mashpee, MA 02649

Media Contact: Alex Speck

Media Contact Phone: (917) 509-6813 (cell phone day of event)

Media Contact Email: [email protected]

Community Health Center of Cape Cod is happy to announce the hire of two Nutrition and Wellness providers: Dena Irwin, RDN and Alyssa Sharp, RDN.

Ms. Dena Irwin, RDN is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Registered Yoga Teacher. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Food and Nutrition from Framingham State College and completed her Yoga Teacher Training at Sanctuary Studios in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Ms. Irwin has helped people to improve their health as a Nutritionist in community hospitals, diabetes centers, and senior living centers. She practices integrative nutrition, using whole foods healing and taking account of the whole person (body, mind, spirit). Ms. Irwin lives in Plymouth.

Ms. Alyssa Sharp, RDN is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Dietetics from Point Loma Nazarene University and her Master of Science degree in Nutrition from University of North Florida. Ms. Sharp has worked as a dietitian for Fitness 500 Club and served as a Nutrition Educator for the Florida Department of Health in Duval County. She is a member of the Massachusetts Dietetic Association and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Ms. Sharp lives in Osterville.

Nutrition services are offered to all CHC of Cape Cod patients who need them. Using a model of integrated care, CHC Nutritionists communicate with a patient’s primary care provider to devise an appropriate treatment plan, and progress is tracked by the healthcare team.  CHC of Cape Cod also offers a wellness programming to patients to help them prevent and control chronic health conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes and falls among the elderly. Patients in the wellness programs are referred to health, social, wellness and fitness activities provided by community partners at no cost to the patient. For more information about Nutrition and Wellness services at CHC of Cape Cod, visit CHCofCapeCod.org

Community Health Center of Cape Cod is providing STAR Quality training for all staff in Lean principles as part of its commitment to continuous quality improvement. The mission of this training is to ensure the use of improvement techniques to implement strategic plans that are both efficient and effective in improving patient care. The effort is supported in part with a grant from Neighborhood Health Plan and is delivered by Dan Fleming, an expert in Lean from GBMP.

All CHC staff is participating in three 4-hour sessions covering the following topics: Basics of lean in healthcare, workplace organization, A3 problem solving and team based process Kaizen.  In addition, CHC will begin to implement Gemba Walks, which brings managers into the real workplace to observe workflow problems and derive solutions. Managers from every department will be rotating through the entire organization to learn more about departmental work flow and to provide oversight, education and resources to foster a culture of sustained continuous improvement. STAR Quality stands for Strategies and Techniques for Achieving Results.

Senator Michael Brady, Second Plymouth and Bristol district; Senator Julian Cyr, Cape and Islands district; and Senator Vinny deMacedo, Plymouth and Barnstable district will be hosting a roundtable discussion on the Prevention and Wellness Trust Fund (PWTF) and funding for Community Health Centers on Tuesday, March 7.  Various members of the Barnstable County PWTF Partnership will be in attendance to discuss this partnership, and to discuss other community public health priorities.  The event will be held at Community Health Center of Cape Cod’s Mashpee office.

Please consider joining us to cover this event.  More information is below:

Event Date: Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Time: 9:15 am – 10:30 am

Location: Community Health Center of Cape Cod (Park in the upper lot and use main entrance)
107 Commercial Street, Mashpee, MA 02649

Media Contact: Chris Ellis

Media Contact Phone: (914) 433-0926 (day of event)

Media Contact Email: [email protected]