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: [email protected]

Mashpee – Community Health Center of Cape Cod will host a substance use drop-in night the first Tuesday of every month beginning Tuesday, June 6. The drop-in nights will take place from 4-8 pm, at the Health Center’s Mashpee location at 107 Commercial Street.  Launched 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. This drop-in center model is the first of its kind on Cape Cod.

The events are free to attend and are open to all. A number of human services organizations will be represented each month, including CHC of Cape Cod, South Bay Mental Health Center, Gosnold, Duffy Health Center, Adcare and Parents Supporting Parents. The drop-in nights will feature five to 10 “recovery angels” offering active substance 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.

“Hopefully attendees can find help in some way and point a loved one in the right direction,” said Jennifer Monaghan, RN, Addiction Program Coordinator at Community Health Center of Cape Cod.

Community Health Center of Cape Cod 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. More information about our substance use treatment at Community Health Center of Cape Cod is available at www.chcofcapecod.org. Child watch will be available from 6-8pm at the Health Center.  The first drop-in night will take place on June 6 from 4-8 pm and the July session will be held on July 11 because of the holiday.

CHC of Cape Cod is one of 37 community programs to receive funding from the Cape and Islands United Way. The funds are designated for the Health Center’s Substance Abuse program expansion. To view the complete article in the Cape Cod Times, click here.

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

Mashpee – Community Health Center of Cape Cod is one of 10 community health centers to have been selected to participate in the inaugural cohort of the GE Foundation-funded SUSTAIN Communities (Substance Use Support & Technical Assistance In Communities) initiative. With additional assistance from Partners HealthCare, the ten health centers will receive customized coaching, training and support to build capacity for the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders in their communities.

The awardees are: Boston Health Care for the Homeless, Brockton Neighborhood Health Center, Caring Health Center, Codman Square Health Center, Community Health Center of Cape Cod, DotHouse Health, East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, Lowell Community Health Center, Mattapan Community Health Center and South End Community Health Center.

The Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers will manage the program, which will include executive coaching on change management, on-site peer mentoring for addiction services and case-based team learning sessions. Furthermore, participating health centers will receive a $50,000 stipend for multi-disciplinary care teams to commit time to this initiative.

Community Health Center of Cape Cod 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. CHC of Cape Cod plans to expand access to care for at least 900 individuals over the next two years. It also aims to implement a Structured Outpatient Addictions Program (SOAP) to strengthen integration with behavioral health services and to expand its scope beyond substance abuse to overall pain and addictions management.

Click here to read a feature article in The Falmouth Enterprise about the concerns of rising healthcare costs in the State and how community health centers, like CHC of Cape Cod, can help offer a solution. CEO Karen Gardner is featured in the article!

Click here to read Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Jessica Burgess write about the risks associated with Substance Use Disorder and our approach to treatment at CHC of Cape Cod.

CHC of Cape Cod will host a Substance Use Drop-In Night the first Tuesday of every month beginning in June from 4-8 p.m. Launched 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. Click here to read The Mashpee Enterprise article for more details!