74 Worcester Business Journal | October 28, 2024 | wbjournal.com
A
t Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center (Kennedy
Community Health), we believe that access to comprehensive health
care is a right, not a privilege. We were founded in 1972 by seven
women seeking better access to health care for their families. Living
in the largest public housing complex in Worcester, Massachusetts, our "seven
founding mothers" relied on the emergency room for care and lacked reliable
access to preventive services. To change the paradigm, these pioneers founded the
Health Center to bring these services to the apartment complex and create more
equitable access to vital health care.
Kennedy Community Health has grown
exponentially since its humble beginnings in
Great Brook Valley, but we remain steadfast in our
commitment to our founding mothers' mission to
advance health equity for those who live or work
in the 100+ communities we serve across Central
Massachusetts and MetroWest through our four health center sites and six school-
based health centers locations in Worcester, Milford and Framingham.
Each year, over 35,000 individuals of all ages receive a wide range of health
care services through our Patient-Centered Medical Home model of care, which
provides coordinated primary, behavioral health, dental, optometry, substance
use disorder, gender affirming, reproductive health, refugee health, and a range
of specialty health care services as well as health insurance enrollment assistance
and other social and wrap around support services to create a "medical home"
for our patients, where they can access a full spectrum
of services under one roof. Our approach aims to not
only support and empower our patients to play an
active role in managing their health but also allows us
to deliver coordinated, compassionate and responsive
care to help them live healthy and fulfilling lives. n
Edward M. Kennedy
Community Health Center
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