Community Health Center of Cape Cod is honoring its health care heroes during National Health Center Week with a number of staff recognition events, awards and activities. These individuals work hard every day to ensure the health of our community and always put patients first.
CHC of Cape Cod hosts a staff of 174 health care heroes who serve more than 15,000 underserved, underinsured and uninsured patients. Here is an inside look at the faces behind the organization that has provided twenty years of high quality, affordable, integrated health care to the community.
With over 85,000 blood pressures, countless barrier assessments and screenings, lab tests, foot exams and more completed, the medical assistant and nursing teams, made up of 37 individuals, are essential to CHC of Cape Cod’s success.
CHC of Cape Cod’s dental, optometry and pharmacy teams, made up of 45 individuals, bring tremendous enthusiasm and professionalism to CHC of Cape Cod.
The 31 individuals in CHC of Cape Cod’s enrollment, health information and patient access teams are often the first point of communication for new and existing patients, and they take on every task with a smile.
CHC of Cape Cod’s 34 behavioral health and medical providers are some of the best in the business, acting as both caregivers and a confidant support system.
The 27 accounting, administration, advancement, billing, HR and IT employees at CHC of Cape Cod often work behind the scenes but are no less important to the organization’s success.
CHC of Cape Cod would also not be where it is today without the support of its loyal patients, volunteers, community supporters, board and donors. On National Health Center Week, the organization celebrates these health care heroes as a vital extension of its staff.
To learn more about getting involved, please visit www.chcofcapecod.org/get-involved.
Community Health Center of Cape Cod will join the nation in celebrating National Health Center Week on August 12-18 with a number of events planned for CHC staff, supporters and the general public. National Health Center Week is an annual celebration with the goal of raising awareness about the mission and accomplishments of America’s health centers over the past five decades.
Nationally, community health centers serve 27 million Americans at more than 10,400 delivery sites in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. territories. While they were originally established to act as a safety net for uninsured and lower-income individuals and families, community health centers increasingly have become providers of choice for residents from all walks of life. In addition to accepting most private insurances, data continues to show the quality of care offered at health centers is as good as – and often better than – care provided in other settings.
Each year, the National Association of Community Health Centers chooses a theme to honor National Health Center Week. This year, it is Celebrating Health Centers: Home of America’s Health Care Heroes. This theme celebrates the incredible health care heroes who live and breathe the health center mission and exceed the call of duty to support health centers in providing quality health care for patients in the community. CHC of Cape Cod will be acknowledging these health care heroes throughout the week.
CHC of Cape Cod is hosting a number of events during that week, including recognition of staff members who have been with the Health Center for 3, 5, 10 – and for the first time, 15 – years! At this event they will also take time to recognize the special role of the Founders of the organization. On Wednesday, August 15, individuals are welcome to visit any Health Center location (107 Commercial Street, Mashpee; 210 Jones Road, Falmouth; 123 Waterhouse Road, Bourne). The Health Center will open its doors to the community to from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. to learn about our offerings and services. All are welcome to attend!
For information about National Health Center Week activities at Community Health Center of Cape Cod, contact Sydnie Lopolito in the Advancement Office at 508-477-5990, or email her at [email protected].
Community Health Center of Cape Cod is pleased to announce the promotion and hire of two CHC of Cape Cod employees in the Advancement department.
Alexandra Speck has been promoted to Senior Giving Officer. In her new role, Alex will serve as a steward for the Health Center and help to secure funding from donors. She has been with the Health Center for two years as a Development Associate. Alex received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Columbia University and studied Broadcast Journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill Graduate School of Journalism. She worked for more than four years as a reporter for WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR Station, where she won an Edward R. Murrow Award for Writing. She is a published author of the novel Honor Girl (November 2017) and lives in North Falmouth.
CHC has also hired Sydnie Lopolito as Advancement Associate. In this role, Sydnie will be responsible for crafting internal and external communications, managing CHC’s social media accounts, building relationships with local media, and participating in education and outreach events to enhance CHC’s presence in the community. Prior to CHC, Sydnie worked at Arborjet, Inc. as a public relations and social media specialist. Past work experiences include over five years working at PR agencies in the Boston area. Sydnie has a strong background in PR and writing and has experience in a number of verticals, including health care, environmental science, home and garden, technology, lifestyle, and entertainment. Sydnie holds a Master of Science in Management from Merrimack College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College. She grew up in Northern Massachusetts and currently resides in South Yarmouth.
For more information about the organization’s fundraising and communications efforts, please call 508-477-5990.
Community Health Center of Cape Cod has been nationally recognized by OCHIN as a “High Performer” based on patient quality outcomes. OCHIN is a nonprofit health care innovation center that provides health IT tools to help health centers achieve core components of quality care, including improved patient experiences, enhanced community health, and controlled costs. Over the last five months, OCHIN has built a methodology to define performance and identify “high performers.” Based on the most recent performance data, only 7 out of 86 organizations have emerged nationwide as high performers, including CHC of Cape Cod. These results are based on patient quality outcomes, including hypertension control and diabetes management.
CHC of Cape Cod patients are encouraged to take control of their health and health outcomes, working with their families and care teams to improve preventive and chronic disease health measures. Furthermore, patients collaborate with care teams for disease management and education, case management services, medication education, and have access to low-cost pharmaceuticals and lifestyle change support.
CHC of Cape Cod tracks patient satisfaction with surveys sent out on a regular basis to measure the quality of patients’ experiences with the care they receive at the Health Center. Over the past few years, more than 90% of patients have expressed “excellent” or “very good” satisfaction with the care they received. As a designated high performer, OCHIN will look to Community Health Center of Cape Cod to learn what other organizations can do to support them and what expertise they can share.
Community Health Center of Cape Cod will host its 20th Anniversary Gala, Once Upon A Time, on Friday, June 22, 2018 at 6:00 PM at The Cape Club. The gala is the culminating event of the Health Center’s yearlong celebration of 20 years since it was founded as the Falmouth Free Clinic.
The gala begins at 6 p.m. with a cocktail and music hour. We will sit for dinner around 7, followed by a great evening of presentations, an ambitious silent auction, and music and dancing to Stage Door Canteen.
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 Once Upon a Time Gala is below and online: https://chcofcapecod.org/gala
Event Date: Friday, June 22, 2018
Time: Event begins at 6:00 pm
Welcome & remarks from Karen Gardner, CEO at approximately 7:10 PM
Location: The Cape Club, 125 Falmouth Woods Road, East Falmouth, MA 02536
Media Contact: Alex Speck, Development
Media Contact Phone: (917) 509-6813 (day of event)
Media Contact Email: [email protected]
The Cape and Islands United Way has awarded Community Health Center of Cape Cod a 2018-2019 Community Impact Partner grant with $10,000 in support of their Caring for Patients with Complex Care Needs Program. Community Health Center of Cape Cod’s Complex Care Program is a primary care-based program that addresses the needs of patients with complex needs and multiple co-morbidities, including patients living with diabetes. The program helps patients who may have one or more chronic continuous or episodic health conditions expected to last 12 or more months. The Complex Care team works with patients’ primary care providers to devise a wellness plan that may incorporate dietary changes, exercise, education, and guidance.
The Cape and Islands United Way supports community needs and creates strategies that allow individuals and families to experience economic and human success through educational achievement, income stability, and healthy living. The Caring for Patients with Complex Care Needs Program is partially funded by Cape and Islands United Way.
Community Health Center of Cape Cod continues to grow and add new services, the latest of which is Teledermatology. CHC providers are now able capture and forward high-resolution images of a patient’s skin health concerns to a board certified dermatologist for review. This service will help patients to gain access to specialty care during a primary care visit. It also allows CHC providers to manage a larger number of patients in-house, while referring patients with more serious skin concerns to be seen by a specialist sooner. Research demonstrates that early intervention has a direct positive impact on long-term health outcomes.
CHC introduced telehealth services in 2016. Telehealth offerings include video interpreting services, teleoptometry and a home telehealth program. CHC also offers telepsychiatry, utilizing video conferencing technology for virtual delivery of psychiatry services to patients.
Telehealth provides an avenue to participate in the shift to value-based care by offering patients new ways to access healthcare, improving the quality of care for patients through sustained connections between clinician and patient and improving patient outcomes and experience.
To learn more about telehealth services at CHC of Cape Cod, please contact Emily Phillips, Telehealth Program Manager at [email protected] or call 508-477-7090 ext. 1177.
Community Health Center of Cape Cod is excited to welcome two additional members to their Board of Directors: Terry McGee and Dr. Bruce Donoff.
Therese (Terry) McGee is an independent marketing consultant who works with technology companies that sell highly complex products and services to help them discover their critical value and develop the right message and content for the right channel. With over 25 years of experience as a marketing executive and consultant, Terry has worked for various software companies in executive roles including FileNet and SPSS (IBM), Exari, and Interwoven (HP). Terry has a passion for healthcare and formerly headed up healthcare industry marketing for a software organization, where she established the company as a top player in healthcare and grew revenues from zero to $12 million within 2 years. Terry has a B.S. Degree in Accounting from Bentley University in Waltham, MA. She lives in Mashpee with her husband.
Dr. R. Bruce Donoff is an oral and maxillofacial surgery doctor in Boston, Massachusetts and is affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM). He received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and has been in practice for more than 20 years. He has served as Dean of Harvard School of Dental Medicine since 1991. He was born in New York City, and attended Brooklyn College as an undergraduate. He received his DMD from HSDM and his MD from Harvard Medical School. He has received numerous honors during his academic career, including the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Research Recognition Award and the William J. Gies Foundation Award for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. He lives in Chestnut Hill with his wife.
YMCA Cape Cod honored Community Health Center of Cape Cod as a Community Partner at their Annual Meeting on April 11, 2018 at The Ridge Club. The YMCA Cape Cod and CHC of Cape Cod have collaborated on a county-wide partnership that strives to reduce health care costs by preventing or controlling chronic health conditions. Led by the Barnstable County Department of Human Services, this broad-based coalition takes aim at diabetes, hypertension, and falls among the elderly. Through this Healthy Living program, Health Center patients are referred to health, social, wellness and fitness activities provided by community partners at no cost to the patient. The Health Center also has had a visible presence at the YMCA’s Annual World Diabetes Day Program. The YMCA Cape Cod is home to a Diabetes Prevention Program and Resource Center, and CHC of Cape Cod hosts a variety of Healthy Living Wellness Programs, including My Life, My Health classes.
At the Annual Meeting, the YMCA presented a video about their collaborative efforts with Community Health Center of Cape Cod and the positive outcomes they have been able to achieve. The video and honor highlighted the existing partnership between the YMCA Cape Cod and CHC and how they work together to promote healthy living, particularly for individuals living with diabetes. Two other local organizations were recognized as Community Partners, including Falmouth Public Schools for their Youth Development programming and District Attorney Michael O’Keefe for Social Responsibility and giving back to our neighbors.
For more information about CHC of Cape Cod and its nutrition and wellness services, visit the website: https://chcofcapecod.org/services/nutrition-and-wellness.
Community Health Center of Cape Cod continues to grow and add new services, the latest of which is teledermatology. Beginning April 1, CHC providers will be able capture and forward high-resolution images of a patient’s dermatologic concerns to a board certified dermatologist for review. Teledermatology enables patients to meet the recommended screenings onsite during a primary care visit and will help triage dermatology referrals. The implementation of teledermatology services at CHC helps providers to care for a larger number of patients in-house, while simultaneously triaging the higher acuity cases to be seen by a specialist sooner. Early intervention has a direct positive impact on long-term health outcomes.
CHC introduced telehealth services in 2016. Telehealth offerings include a video interpreting services and a home telehealth program. CHC also offers telepsychiatry, utilizing video conferencing technology for virtual delivery of psychiatry services to patients.
To learn more about becoming a patient at Community Health Center of Cape Cod, please visit us online at www.chcofcapecod.org or call 508-477-7090.
p: 508-477-7090
f: 508-477-7028
123 Waterhouse Rd.
Bourne, MA 02532
1185B Falmouth Rd.
Centerville, MA 02632
210 Jones Rd.
Falmouth, MA 02540
26 Edgerton Dr.
N. Falmouth, MA 02556
