Spring/Summer 2017             
Dear Friends,

It has been an intense spring of growth and development - all exciting - and summer shows no signs of letting up. Let me hit some of the highlights:

The Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals (COBTH) launched a groundbreaking collaboration of the Boston hospitals, the Boston Public Health Commission and others, to jointly assess and address community health needs. This collaboration affords us the opportunity to have significantly greater impact on the health of the residents of Boston, Chelsea and Revere. While the assessment does not take place until 2019, planning is already underway!

And, speaking of COBTH, the MGH Executive Committee on Community Health (ECOCH) is behind another COBTH collaboration that launched this spring - an effort for the Boston hospitals to collect social determinants of health in common and to share data for greater impact. This initiative is being supported by Partners Community Health and led by Partners Chief Quality Officer Dr. Tom Sequist.

CCHI is contributing to an effort led by Population Health Management to develop an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) for patients on MassHealth . Sarah Oo, Director of Community Health Improvement at MGH Chelsea, will co-chair with Dr. Rose Kakoza from Brigham and Women's Hospital, an effort to develop a comprehensive community health worker program. Danelle Marable, CCHI Director of Evaluation, Ann-Marie Duffy-Keane, Director of Community Health Associates (a division of CCHI), and others are on an advisory group around collecting the social determinants of health.

I serve as one of three hospital representatives on Attorney General Maura Healey's task force to update the community benefit guidelines for hospitals and payers. In that role, I not only represent MGH, but also COBTH, as the co-chair.

Our coalitions are busy preparing for a visit this Thursday, June 29th, from Richard Baum, Acting Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Mr. Baum is interested in the role MGH CCHI has played in sustaining these coalitions over time.

The Boston Public Health Commission is in the midst of developing a comprehensive substance use prevention plan for youth. BPHC was inspired to do so because of funds they will receive as a result of an MGH Determination of Need payment. CCHI Associate Director Leslie Aldrich and I, as well as Coalition Directors Sarah Coughlin, Jennifer Kelly, Sylvia Chiang and Joanna Cataldo, are all participating in the process which was kicked off by Mayor Marty Walsh at City Hall in late March.

Twenty-five CCHI staff participated in five 2 hour sessions of the YW Boston Dialogues on Race and Ethnicity. We explored racism in all its forms from interpersonal to institutional to systemic and how it plays out in our workplaces and communities. This was the most meaningful time I have spent in a while. Thanks to Christy Egun, our Director of Boston Partnerships, for her leadership in this effort. Stay tuned for our action plan.

Finally, congratulations to Joy Rosen, Vice President of Behavioral Health, who was honored by the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health with their  Spirit of Compassion Award. Among her many accomplishments, Joy plays a role in overseeing CCHI.

And, that's not all. Read on as we have more exciting things happening at CCHI and in our communities!

Best,
  
Joan Quinlan
Vice President, Community Health
The Kraft Center for Community Health Transitions to MGH  
Robert Kraft, Elsie Taveras, Joan Quinlan, Peter Slavin & Jonathan Kraft

The Kraft Center for Community Health is transitioning to MGH with Dr. Elsie Taveras taking the reigns as executive director and Joan Quinlan, VP for Community Health, serving as administrative lead. A celebration of the center's first five years was held on June 8th at the Boston Public Library. A warm thank you was extended by Kraft Center alumni, community health leaders and colleagues to outgoing executive director, Dr. Derri Shtasel, and her colleague, Harriet Tolpin.  

 

Stay tuned for an announcement of some exciting new directions! 

Youth STEM Program Updates
2017 MGH Youth Scholars
 
A graduation celebration for the 2017 MGH Youth Scholars will be held tomorrow (June 29th) at noon, under the Bulfinch Tent at MGH. All twenty-two Youth Scholars from Boston, Revere and Chelsea have graduated from high school and are college bound in September. Featured speakers on the program are Dr. Peter Slavin, MGH President, and Dr. Sherri-Ann Burnett-Bowie, Director of Multicultural Affairs for the MGH Dept. of Medicine.
 
 
Our 2017 Summer Jobs Program is kicking off on July 10th and will run through August 18th. This year, we are serving over 200 local students from Boston, Chelsea and Revere. With over 75 departments participating across MGH and the community health centers, this will be one of our biggest years yet!  
In the Community

RWJF judges and residents attend kickoff of site visit at Chelsea City Hall
Chelsea a Top Contender for the RWJ Culture of Health Prize
 
Community partners, city officials and residents came together, with the help of CCHI's Associate Director, Leslie Aldrich, and GreenRoots' Roseann Bongiovanni, to support Chelsea, Massachusetts' quest for the 2017 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Prize. RWJF judges were given a whirlwind tour of the city, and stops along the way included MGH Chelsea Healthcare Center and Healthy Chelsea. Chelsea is one of only eleven finalists for the prize, out of nearly 200 applicants, and an announcement will be made some time mid-summer. Stay tuned!
(l-r) Jonina Gorenstein and Viviana Catano
Living Tobacco-Free and Revere CARES Team Up to Restrict Tobacco Sales in Revere
 
Revere's Board of Health recently approved a regulation that raises the minimum age for tobacco retail sales from 18 to 21 ("T-21"), joining Everett, Chelsea and Boston, and other Massachusetts cities and towns. Two CCHI programs - Revere CARES and MGH Community Health Associates Living Tobacco-Free - have worked together with the Six City Tobacco Initiative over the past two years to advocate for raising the sales age and other changes in Revere's tobacco regulations.    Read more>>
MGH & Charlestown Coalition staff with Turn It Around Youth
Prescription Medication Take Back Day in Charlestown Most Successful to Date
 
Recently, the Charlestown Coalition held their most successful prescription take back event ever -- collecting a record-breaking 68.2 lbs of unused, expired, and unwanted prescription medications! Turn It Around youth group members assisted with weighing the prescriptions, giving out gift cards and talking with community members about their group.
Community Health Centers Receive OBOT Grants
 
MGH community health centers in Chelsea, Revere and Charlestown were recently awarded MA Department of Public Health - Office Based Opioid Treatment (OBOT) grants. The funding will provide nursing case management and Medication Assisted Treatment (buprenorphine and naloxone) for patients with substance use disorders. This is a critical clinical resource for the primary care practices and patients in the ongoing challenge of addressing the opioid epidemic.
Charlestown Coalition Participating in HUBweek
 
Save the date of Friday, October 13th, for a special program on Boston City Hall Plaza featuring the Charlestown Coalition! Now in its third year, HUBweek (October 10-15) is an innovation festival and a unique civic collaboration founded by the Harvard University, Mass General Hospital, MIT and the Boston Globe. Last year, HUBweek attracted 20,000 attendees representing the life sciences, technology, academics, art and policy from all over the United States and 40 countries. More details about the full day agenda to follow!
People, Places and Events

 

Sarah Coughlin, Charlestown Coalition Director, was recently appointed to the Massachusetts NASW (National Association of Social Workers) Board of Directors. Sarah will also be presenting at the National Organization of Forensic Social Work (NOFSW) conference that is being held in Boston from July 26-July 29th, 2017. Her presentation is titled Advocating for Addicted Clients in the Criminal Justice System.

 
Danelle Marable, Director of Evaluation and Strategic Support, and Joan Quinlan, VP for Community Health, presently at the Grantmakers for Health Annual Conference held in Boston June 22-23. Danelle was part of a panel discussion titled Health Starts at Home, and Joan presented on Anchor Institutions.