Greater New Bedford Community Health Center, Inc., a designated Public Health Service 330 Center. Providing medical and dental services to the Greater New Bedford area.

June 2008

Greater New Bedford Community Health Center participates in Occupational Health Surveillance program

The Greater New Bedford Community Health Center has been selected as one of two Health Centers in Massachusetts to participate in the Occupational Health Surveillance program. By combining Public Health and Health Center objectives, individuals subjected to work related injuries and exposures can receive treatment for those conditions as well as receive primary care and a whole range of services.

The surveillance program involves collecting information on work-related injuries and illnesses, using the information to develop intervention and preventive programs, and educating workers, employers, and health care providers in occupational health problems in medically underserved communities. Workplace health conditions include asthma, needlesticks, musculoskeletal injuries, lead poisoning, burns, carbon monoxide poisoning, and occupational cancer.

The Greater New Bedford Community Health Center continues to explore funding sources to support these efforts.

The surveillance program at GNBCHC is under the direction of Ismail Nabeel, MD who is a member of the Infectious Disease team. Dr. Nabeel is Board certified in Internal Medicine and Occupational Medicine. He not only lectures on occupational health conditions at the Health Center but has also trained Park Service Rangers and volunteers in hazard communication during Summerfest. and has provided training for fishermen. He is a visiting scholar at Harvard School of Public Health. He has presented lectures to judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island on work related issues in HIV positive patients. Dr. Nabeel is a member of the Department of Public Health Advisory Board for Occupational Health Surveillance.

May 2008

Greater New Bedford Community Health Center Honors Employees With 2008 Staff Awards

They are the friendly and assuring voice you hear at the other end of the telephone line, the nurse who willingly helps wherever needed, the secretary who makes sure the patients are cared for in a timely manner, the maintenance person who makes sure the campus is safe for all, the Doctor whose first priority is the patient’s care, the clerk who generously volunteers in the various efforts that benefit the community. They are the everyday heroes we recognized at the Annual Employee Recognition Ceremony: Viviana Abreu, Kerry Chavez, Roy Filkins, James Hayes, NP, Dianne Lowe, and Donale Middleton, MD.

ROCKLAND TRUST DONATES $5,000 TO GREATER NEW BEDFORD COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER
Donation will support new Wellness Center to treat Diabetes and Obesity

NEW BEDFORD, MA (April 21, 2008). Rockland Trust has donated $5,000.00 to the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center, it was announced today. The bank's donation will help support the organization's new Wellness clinic, scheduled to open July 1, 2008, and focusing on the areas of Type II Diabetes, obesity and nutrition. A check for $5,000.00 was presented to Peter Georgeopoulos, Chief Executive Officer and D. Karen Enright, PhD, RN, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Clinical Services, of the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center, at the site of the new clinic on April 11, 2008. A photo is attached below.

"We are grateful for the generous support of Rockland Trust," stated Chief Executive Officer Peter Georgeopoulos, "their assistance will help us address the growing problem of Obesity and Type II Diabetes in our community."

"At Rockland Trust, we are committed to strengthening the communities in which we work and live," stated Lynn Motta, Vice President of Commercial Lending for Rockland Trust, "we are proud to support the good work of the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center, whose programs will improve the quality of life for the people of greater New Bedford."

Rockland Trust Company is the sole bank subsidiary of Independent Bank Corp. (Nasdaq: INDB), with approximately $3.4 billion in assets. Rockland Trust offers commercial banking, retail banking, investment management services, and insurance sales services from 61 retail branches, 9 commercial lending centers, and 5 mortgage origination offices located throughout southeastern Massachusetts and on Cape Cod; and, from 4 investment management offices located throughout southeastern Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, and in Rhode Island. With 870 professionals, they are one of the largest employers in Southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod. Rockland Trust lives by four key promises: a commitment to providing superior customer service, strengthening the communities in which it works and lives, investing in their employees' success, and meeting shareholders' expectations. To find out more about the products and services available at Rockland Trust, please visit https://www.rocklandtrust.com.

Greater New Bedford Community Health Center Receives Grant for Foster Grandparent Program

The Greater New Bedford Community Health Center has received a grant for $2,325 from the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts - Acushnet Foundation Fund for a Foster Grandparents Program. The award will support the cost of having Foster Grandparents reading in the Pediatric waiting room of the Health Center. The Foster Grandparents program through Coastline Elderly Services places low-income elders in settings where they can support literacy skills in children. They receive a small stipend for their services and travel expenses. The hope is to eventually have a reader in the morning and in the afternoon, Monday through Friday. "Having Foster Grandparents read to children in our waiting room reinforces the key message of the Reach Out and Read program," said Dr. Nancy Langhans, Health Center Medical Director. "Reading to young children is one of the most important things parents can do to prepare their children to learn."

Walgreens opens pharmacy on Greater New Bedford Community Health Center campus

Corporate representatives from Walgreens and the Pharmacy staff pose moments before the official opening of the pharmacy. Back row l to r: Gene Nardin, On-Site Pharmacy Development Coordinator, Bob Hurley, Manager On-Site Operations, and Steve Pashko, Pharmacy supervisor.Front Row l to r: Christina Moniz, Pharmacy Technician, Odilia DesRoches, Pharmacy Manager, and Jillian Lebron, Pharmacy Technician.

It's done! After months of construction, Walgreens opened its pharmacy on the campus of the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center. Over time heating and ventilation contractors, electricians, and painters transformed the space. Store fittings arrived. Shelves were stocked with prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and retail items. The minute that the city permit was delivered, corporate representatives and the pharmacy staff officially opened the doors of Walgreens at the Health Center.

For the moment, Walgreens is a retail pharmacy until the process which will allow it to become a 340B pharmacy is completed. The selection of OTC medications and retail items is expected to evolve as customers and Health Center personnel and patients make suggestions.

The pharmacy manager, Odilia DesRoches, holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Rhode Island. She has been associated with Walgreens since she started as a third year intern 10 years ago. She has worked in the Acushnet Avenue pharmacy and at Walgreens in Fairhaven. The staff includes part time pharmacist, Liz Pereira and pharmacy technicians, Christina Moniz and Jillian Lebron. Both Liz and Jillian are bi-lingual.

The on-site pharmacy is highly convenient for Health Center patients and the community. Not only does it save a special trip to get a prescription filled but they have access to all the services that Walgreens offers through its various operations. Not only do patients benefit but the Health Center staff is just steps away from the expertise that the on-site pharmacist can provide.

Greater New Bedford Community Health Center Receives $200,000 Grant from state's Essential Community Provider Trust

The Patrick Administration has announced a $200,000 grant has been awarded to the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center as part of the $37.5 million in grants awarded to 69 hospitals and community health centers throughout the state. The funds are provided through the Essential Community Provider Trust Fund to help hospitals and community health centers meet the needs of the populations they serve more effectively and efficiently.

Evaluation of the grant applications was based on the financial needs and the role that each institution plays in the Commonwealth's health delivery system in ensuring access to both preventive and acute care. The Greater New Bedford Community Health Center will use its grant to start up a storefront service for weight loss and childhood obesity, diabetic teaching, and smoking cessation. The storefront services will be available not only to Health Center patients but to the community at large.

For years, the members of the Board of Directors and the Executive staff of the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center dreamt of a medical facility where a wide range of services in one location would be easily accessible to area residents. On August 8, 2007, the dream came true as the Health Center officially opened its expanded downtown campus. Now, in one stop, patients can get not only primary medical care but dental services, nutritional services, eye care, laboratory testing, X-rays, mammography, pharmacy services, and more. This assures not only good quality care but continuity of care as well.

The ribbon cutting ceremony and official opening of the expanded downtown campus included addresses by Senator Mark Montigny, Mayor Scott Lang, and Ines Goncalves-Drolet representing Congressman Barney Frank and remarks by James Hunt, President of the Massachusetts League of Community Health. While they commented on the problems of the health care system, they acknowledged that the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center and Health Centers nationwide are good for the health of the community and prevention of disease. They are also economic engines for their communities often improving and revitalizing the areas in which they are located.

Greater New Bedford Community Health Center Opens Women's Health/MCH Clinical Unit

The Greater New Bedford Community Health Center is pleased to announce the opening of its clinical unit devoted to Women's Health and Maternal & Child Health. By co-locating the unit with Pediatrics and WIC nutrition program, the Health Center has dedicated one floor of its facility to "moms and kids". The objective is to provide and improve a complete range of services that will insure the quality, continuity, and access to care and prevention programs for staying healthy.

In his remarks during the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Health Center President and CEO, Stuart Forman remarked "our focus is prevention, as well as intervention services; and it is care not only throughout the life course of an individual, but it is care throughout multi-generations. This approach is critical, if we are to ultimately prevent disease rather than just intervening after disease has occurred."

Mr. Jean Desrosiers, Chairman of the Golf Tournament Committee, presented a check to the Health Center noting that the funds raised by the Tournament helped to equip four new exam rooms in the Women's Health area.

2006 - 2008 GNBCHC News & Events