Community Health Center of Cape Cod stands with our Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) staff, patients and those in the community in condemning anti-Asian violence and discrimination. Racism is a public health crisis, resulting in emotional trauma and stress – people of color often feel unsafe and unseen. Our team at the Health Center is committed to supporting all individuals experiencing the impact of violence and negativity, and hope that together we can continue to build a community of healing, health and strength.

While bias and discrimination can appear in many different ways, our Health Center is committed to health equity for all. We continue to take a stand to promote equity and racial justice, support staff and patients who have been marginalized and prioritize antiracism in our community. Health centers in this country were founded on the basis of providing culturally competent care and helping individuals overcome geographic, cultural, linguistic, and other barriers to receive this care. Community Health Center of Cape Cod strives to eliminate systemic racism and provide access for all in a safe, healthy and inclusive environment.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Karen L. Gardner
Chief Executive Officer

David V. Peterson, Jr.
President, Board of Directors

Community Health Center of Cape Cod is proud to announce the integration of Recovery Coaching into their Substance Use Disorder program, thanks to participation in the HEALing Communities Study. The Health Center welcomes Jeffrey Rose to their team as their first Recovery Coach. A Recovery Coach is a unique role with a strong base in trust building, compassion and empathy. Recovery Coaches have lived addiction experience with long term recovery, as well as specialized training to guide fellow recoverees toward achieving their recovery goals. As an integrated part of the Health Center’s Substance Use Disorder (SUD) program, Mr. Rose will connect with recoverees within the Health Center and the community to help remove barriers and obstacles to recovery through mentorship and guidance. Mr. Rose joins the SUD program with over four years of experience in recovery support roles on Cape Cod, most recently as a Recovery Specialist for the Gosnold Emergency Department, and he holds multiple specialist and counselor certifications in the substance use recovery field. 

Community Health Center of Cape Cod offers an office-based substance use disorder treatment program that serves people who need assistance with recovery from substance use in a compassionate environment. The Health Center offers a medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) program for substance use disorder using Suboxone or Vivitrol. This MOUD service is open to the public and all individuals can participate, even if they are not Health Center patients. Substance use disorder treatment services at Community Health Center of Cape Cod provide access to a structured, safe and empowering environment, consultation to discuss and develop an integrated treatment plan, integrated comprehensive care that can include addiction services, behavioral health group sessions, primary care follow-ups, and personalized pathways to recovery with the consistent guidance of the addiction specialty team. The Bourne and Sandwich coalition of the HEALing Communities Study, led by Boston Medical Center, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) aims to decrease opioid overdose deaths in Bourne and Sandwich, and 15 other Massachusetts communities, by 40 percent. Community Health Center of Cape Cod is a member of this coalition which aims to increase access to important health care resources, provide recovery support services to help high-risk individuals stay in substance use treatment, increase access to NARCAN®, and reduce barriers to care for people who use drugs and have a substance use disorder within the towns of Bourne and Sandwich. To learn more about the HEALing Communities Study, visit www.HEALTogetherMA.org/Barnstable. For more information about substance use disorder services available at Community Health Center of Cape Cod, visit www.CHCofCapeCod.org, or call (508) 477-7090. 

If you have had close contact (within 6 feet for 15 minutes or longer) with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, you should be tested 4 days after exposure to reduce the chance of a false negative test. Per CDC guidelines, you should self-isolate for 10 days after the exposure, even if you test negative for COVID-19. Community Health Center of Cape Cod offers COVID-19 testing for symptomatic and asymptomatic registered patients, and for unregistered asymptomatic patients. If you are having difficulty breathing or tightness in your chest, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.

For more information and updates on Community Health Center’s guidelines and response to COVID-19 please click here.

If you have any questions, or would like additional information, please call (508) 477-7090 or visit www.chcofcapecod.org.

We are so very grateful to the Yawkey Foundations for their generous support of our Health Center’s efforts related to COVID-19! You can read more about their donation to CHC and others here:

America’s Federally Qualified Community Health Centers owe our existence to a series of events in U.S. history, and to a number of dedicated public health and civil rights activists who fought more than 50 years ago to improve the lives of Americans living in poverty and in desperate need of high quality, affordable health care.

The integrated, community-based model of care that emerged through the efforts our founders Jack Geiger, MD, Count Gibson, MD and John Hatch, PhD continues to serve as the foundation and reminder of the importance of our work and that which still lies ahead in improving health within our communities, as well as the social barriers that still exist and impact the lives of the most vulnerable.

In the words of Dr. Geiger, “A community health center can serve as an agent of social change, intervening not only in the social determinants of our population’s health, but also launching a process of structural change that starts to liberate the population through community empowerment from repetitive cycles of poverty and political exclusion.”

Community Health Center of Cape Cod stands with the community we serve in creating an environment free of racial injustice, intolerance and discrimination. We remain steadfast to our mission and serving as champions for the establishment of safe, healthy and inclusive environments for all.  

Sincerely,

Karen L. Gardner Chief Executive Officer	David V. Peterson, Jr. President, Board of Directors

COVID-19 testing is available at the Health Center’s Mashpee office. If you would like to be tested, please call us at 508-477-7090 during business hours and press 2. Let the operator know you are calling to be connected to our COVID-19 team.

We know that the situation regarding COVID-19 (Coronavirus) continues to evolve rapidly.  Community Health Center of Cape Cod is monitoring the virus with the latest guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide updated information to our patients as it becomes available.  The best way to avoid getting sick, and to avoid spreading a virus is to wash your hands often, avoid people who are sick and stay home if you are sick.

If you have a fever over 102 degrees that won’t respond to over the counter fever reducers and one of the following, please call 911:

• Worsening chest pain despite taking over the counter pain medication
• Cough associated with bloody sputum
• Worsening shortness of breath

Virtual Visits at CHC:
Community Health Center of Cape Cod is prepared to meet the health care needs of their patients during the rapidly changing COVID-19 environment by offering expanded telehealth appointments, also known as virtual visits. Virtual visits may be accomplished through a more detailed phone call or through a video conferencing application within the patient’s electronic health record. In accordance with the latest guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Center encourages patients to call prior to visiting CHC of Cape Cod. Many health conditions may be addressed virtually, reducing the risk of community exposure to COVID-19. To see a demonstration of the virtual visits and for additional information on how to access them, please click here.  

If you are scheduled for elective surgery, we recommend you contact your surgeon’s office for information.

For questions about your upcoming appointments or to find out if a virtual visits would be appropriate for you, please call us at 508-477-7090 during business hours and press 2 to be connected to Patient Engagement. Let them know you are a high risk patient for COVID-19 and you would like information about virtual visits or to postpone a preventive visit.

If you have any questions, you can call the Health Center at (508) 477-7090.

Community Health Center of Cape Cod is prepared to meet the health care needs of our patients during the rapidly changing COVID-19 environment by offering expanded telehealth appointments, also known as virtual visits. Virtual visits may be accomplished through a more detailed phone call or through our video conferencing application within our patient’s electronic health record. In accordance with the latest guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we encourage patients to call prior to visiting the Health Center. Many health conditions may be addressed virtually, reducing the risk of community exposure to COVID-19.  

For individuals who have a computer or tablet with an internet connection or a smartphone, they will be able to check-in for your virtual visit using the MyChart patient portal and can launch a video conference through this service. Not all services can be offered virtually, but a virtual visit can be appropriate for some preventive care, follow-up, behavioral health and chronic disease management visits. 

To learn more about virtual visits at the Health Center, please call (508) 477-7090 to be connected to the Patient Engagement team.  If you believe you are experiencing symptoms (fever, shortness of breath, cough) or have reason to believe you may have been exposed to COVID-19, please let our team know upon calling.  Health Center patients may also message their health care provider through the MyChart patient portal.  For additional information from Community Health Center of Cape Cod, and their efforts surrounding COVID-19, visit www.chcofcapecod.org/coronavirus.  

To see a demonstration of the virtual visits and for additional information on how to access them, please click here.  

We know that the current situation regarding COVID-19 (Coronavirus) continues to evolve rapidly.  Community Health Center of Cape Cod is monitoring the situation with the latest guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide updated information to our patients as it becomes available. 

Please visit our coronavirus page to learn more.

If you have any questions, you can call the Health Center at (508) 477-7090.

Mashpee – Community Health Center of Cape Cod has been recognized as a 2019 Health Center Quality Leader by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)’s Bureau of Primary Healthcare. The Health Center has received recognition for ranking among the top 10% of health centers nationally for clinical quality – the first time in the organization’s history that they have received this honor.

This recognition by HRSA was for numerous quality improvement achievements in 2019. In addition to the top 10% Quality Leader recognition for clinical quality measures, Community Health Center of Cape Cod was recognized in a number of subcategories of the Improving Quality of Care Awards. These categories are Clinical Quality Improvers, demonstrating at least 15% improvement on a clinical quality measure; Advancing Health Information Technology (HIT) for Quality Award, for utilizing five HIT services and/or telehealth services to increase access to care and advance quality of care; and Patient Centered Medical Home Recognition, for having patient centered medical home recognition (PCMH) in one or more delivery sites. The Health Center is honored to be recognized by HRSA as a health center leader in these categories and will continue to work on quality improvement efforts to provide the best care possible for the community.  The Health Center has offices in Mashpee, Falmouth, Bourne and Centerville, and provides integrated care services for anyone in the community who needs it, regardless of ability to pay.

Community Health Center of Cape Cod is excited to welcome Dr. Thomas Andrea OD, FAAO as Director of Optometry Services. Dr. Andrea, a resident of Sandwich, most recently served as an Assistant Clinical Professor at the New England School of Optometry and as an Attending Optometrist at the Lynn Community Health Center.

Dr. Andrea received his Doctor of Optometry (OD) from the New England College of Optometry (NECO) in Boston and completed his residency in Ocular Disease and Primary Care at VA Boston Healthcare System in Brockton, MA. He continues to serve as the Director of the NECO Alumni Association and is a member of the American Optometric Association and the Massachusetts Society of Optometrists. He received his Fellowship with the American Academy of Optometry at the most recent meeting in November of 2018.  Dr. Andrea is accepting new patients ages 6 and up and has an interest in caring for patients with systemic and ocular diseases, such as diabetes, macular degeneration and co-managing glaucoma. Community Health Center of Cape Cod offers optometry services at their Mashpee office located at 107 Commercial Street, and has recently increased its optometry services with the addition of teleretinal cameras at its Falmouth and Bourne offices.  The optometry office in Mashpee will also be expanded soon, and these latest developments will allow for improved eye care and overall health for a broader spectrum of patients in the community