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45 Years of Service | 1972 - 2017 11 of Directors. WI extends the mission he helped start, at what is now the first community-based research center established by a Federally Qualified Health Center. e atmosphere in which eConsults was piloted and brought to scale illustrates something special about WI and CHC, on paper and in practice. It is a collaborative, integrated environment, en- ergized by progress and possibilities — research informs patient care, patient care suggests research avenues, and technology is routinely mined for ways to improve primary-care delivery and patient outcomes. Team-based care, explains Chief Medical Officer Dr. Veena Channamsetty, starts with lead- ership, and is intertwined and dependent upon research. "We're all on the same page, and that is mirrored at all our sites. We spend a lot of time behind the scenes supporting the front- line work of each patient visit." Project ECHO is a prime ex- ample. It is an innovative, high-tech initiative that uses telecon- ferencing, electronic health records, disease management and case-based learning to ex- pand access to specialty care for underserved patients — and provide primary care physicians op- portunities for professional growth as they gain expertise in treat- ing complex illnesses, benefitting their patients. "Primary care can be very isolating. Everyone is practicing in bubbles," Anderson observes. Project ECHO has filled a vacuum, especially in supporting and informing the response to complex illnesses including Hepatitis C, HIV, pediatric and adolescent be- havioral health, opioid dependence and chronic pain. CHC is the only Federally Qualified Health Center to operate its own Project ECHO clinics. Responding to the nation's mounting opioid epidemic, CHC has launched PainNET, an online learning community to assist healthcare providers on the front lines. e Institute and CHC have stepped up with a range of supportive services. "PainNET is a way to discuss difficult cases and figure out the best course of action," said Dr. Robin Dickinson of Community Supported Family Medicine, in Englewood, CO. "I get to draw on the brain trust of others who are managing similar patients." WI has also earned a stellar reputation for the caliber of its re- search. It is singularly situated to design and execute research on patient-centered outcomes. "We speak both languages," Anderson says, "academia and primary care." What too oen has been heli- copter research elsewhere — re- searchers swooping in to gather data from a population they were relatively unfamiliar with — is vastly different at CHC, where patients and their histories, are known by teams of clinicians. "e Community Health Center is a treasure; what has been built is a model for the nation," assesses Joe McGee, vice president for public policy and programs at the Fairfield County Business Council, who serves with CHC Co-Founder and CEO Mark Masselli on the state's Commission on Eco- nomic Competitiveness. "What CHC is delivering is the future of medicine … cutting-edge healthcare to populations not usually given this level of service." CHC is equally committed to comprehensive quality improve- ments and the training of the next generation of health profes- sionals. "We are fiercely committed to moving forward, and we take gi- ant leaps when there is opportunity," says Senior Vice President and Clinical Director Margaret Flinter, APRN, PhD. e Weitz- man Institute is integral to navigating that course and setting that direction. "In 15 years, healthcare will be dramatically different," Masselli suggests. "We're working through what that should look like and how to achieve it." n "The Community Health Center is a treasure; what has been built is a model for the nation." Joe McGee, vice president for public policy and programs at the Fairfield County Business Council www.weitzmaninstitute.org