COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER

The goal of our organization is to improve the health of our community through the provision of comprehensive, high quality, compassionate health care to all, regardless of their ability to pay. The Health Center cares for patients from all Cape towns, Martha's Vineyard and towns across Southeastern Massachusetts. 52% of Health Center patients have MassHealth or another state insurance plan, 22% have Medicare coverage and 5% have no insurance. Health Center enrollment staff assisted more than 3,000 patients and members of the community with the insurance application last year. We aim to be a health care home of choice reflecting community needs, empowering individuals towards lifelong wellness.

Our strategic plan encompasses our organizational mission, vision and values. It is a compilation of needs assessed within our community and then thoughtful and inclusive input from multiple stakeholders, including consumers, fellow human services and health care providers, staff and directors. Reflective of our commitment to excellence, the directors and staff support this plan as a guide for our continuous improvement, programming, business development and innovation in the upcoming years.

Our organization has an excellent staff and all are required to undergo the STAR quality training program that holds the staff accountable for making the most efficient and best decisions possible in terms of care at the health center. This allows us to become the quality patient-centered medical home we aim to be. Furthermore, our providers work in teams to manage a patient's overall health, which is part of our complex care program. In this way, all of a patient's healthcare needs are addressed at one time, including medical, behavioral, dental and optical health.

In 1998, Community Health Center of Cape Cod was founded as the Falmouth Free Clinic, an all-volunteer clinic caring for uninsured adults. The organization has evolved since then in response to the community's need for affordable, high quality, comprehensive services and now cares for more than 16,000 patients. The Health Center received designation in 2006 by the federal government as a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), and in October 2013, was awarded Level 3 (the highest level) Recognition as a patient-centered medical home (PCMH) by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. As a complete medical home, CHC offers primary care, mental health, dental care, optometry, on-site affordable prescriptions, x-ray and ultrasound services, case management services, barrier assessments and assistance, veterans' care, women's health services, addiction recovery services, teen and adolescent care and many other specialized programs. The Health Center has facilities in Mashpee, Falmouth and Bourne. The staff of the Health Center is currently made up of 130 full time employees and 35 part time employees, led by an experienced and stable management team. Community Health Center of Cape Cod has served for 18 years as the health care safety net and provider of choice for all who need care, especially the most vulnerable. The Health Center is committed to meeting the health care needs of the community by providing high quality care in a cost-efficient manner.

While we have many accomplishments in nearly 20 years since the days of the Falmouth Free Clinic, we still have not reached all of our goals. For example, we would like to be able to further address the substance abuse problem on Cape Cod. Therefore, we are currently seeking funding from a variety of places (grants and private donors) to increase our substance abuse initiative at the health center. We plan to hire a Substance Abuse Program Director and to create more affordable and intensive outpatient therapy groups for patients. We are constantly looking to expand, as we have more demand than we can sometimes accommodate. Part of this expansion is finding a larger office space in Falmouth.