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.

Legislators and Community health centers met in a press conference on Tuesday to discuss the importance of Prevention and Wellness Funding in terms of patient preventative and complex care. We are committed to reauthorizing funding in the State budget for the PWTF. To see a full Cape Cod Times article, click here.

Mashpee – Community Health Center of Cape Cod received Gold recognition in the Wicked Local 2017 Readers Choice Awards for “Regional Favorite” in the Doctor/Primary Care Physician or Pediatrician category. CHC of Cape Cod also received Silver recognition for “Regional Favorite” in the Dentist or Dental Office category.  These regional awards include votes for organizations from the following towns: Barnstable/Hyannis, Bourne, Dennis, Falmouth, Mashpee, Sandwich and Yarmouth.

In addition to these regional awards, CHC of Cape Cod was a Readers Choice Award winner in Mashpee, placing first in the following three categories: first choice for Doctor/Primary Care Physician or Pediatrician, first choice for Dentist or Dental Office and first choice for Optical Shop. The Health Center is thankful to the community for voting it as a top location to receive care on the mid and upper Cape.   For 20 years, the Wicked Local Readers Choice Awards have provided communities an opportunity to recognize their favorite local businesses. Wicked Local Favorites is part of the Wicked Local network of websites.

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: aspeck@chcofcapecod.org

Mashpee – Community Health Center of Cape Cod is delighted to announce its receipt of $10,000 from the Cape and Islands United Way to support Substance Abuse Program Expansion. The expansion is aimed at helping youth and adults refrain from substance abuse and other risky and unhealthy behaviors. The CHC Bourne office houses the Office Based Opioid Treatment (OBOT) program, an individualized, highly structured addiction recovery program that combines counseling, monitoring and medical care to help combat the opiate epidemic.  The OBOT program provides comprehensive treatment for opiate addiction, including Medication-Assisted Treatment, case management and behavioral health services.  In 2015, the Health Center completed 2,256 substance abuse visits.  This expansion project will provide increased access to behavioral health services for Health Center patients, including the OBOT program.

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.

Click here to read a Cape Cod Times article on the State of Massachusetts providing more Naloxone to 10 Community Health Centers, including CHC of Cape Cod.

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: aspeck@chcofcapecod.org