Great Brook Valley Health Center Wins National Health Service Corps Award of Excellence

In the second largest city in Massachusetts, Great Brook Valley Health Center (GBVHC) serves a diverse mix of people from many different cultures and backgrounds.  Many residents are from other countries and speak languages other than English.  Often they work in service industries without any health insurance.  Over the years, GBVHC has developed dozens of programs and project partnerships to create access to care, add services and improve patient care for these low-income and uninsured residents of Worcester.

John Hess, Vice President, Planning & Development, with GBVHC, said the Health Center uses an evidence-based model to identify and quantify access to care needs, and then it develops corresponding programs and seeks grant money for the implementation of these services.

For instance, in 2002, GBVHC joined forces with the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers (MLCHC) in a program called Worcester Community Access Program (CAP).  It is a federal program that encourages communities to work together to overcome access problems for the uninsured.

“The initial access to specialty services for the uninsured, which accounts for 62 percent of our users, was almost zero.  The only way they got access was to go to the emergency room and be admitted to the hospital because they couldn’t pay,” Hess said.  “In Worcester, the specialists are extremely busy.  Even the paying patients have a hard time getting an appointment.  We improved the access by providing specialty services such as ophthalmology, dermatology, pulmonology and urology at a location that is convenient to our users…our Health Center.  Now, our patients can come here for these services.”

GBVHC has been able to continue providing these services beyond the CAP program because Massachusetts has an uncompensated care pool.  Hess explained, “We are able to bill for a lot of the services we provide, and we have the mechanisms in place to bill for the specialty services now provided in our office.  The specialists are contracted to be here on a regular basis…some more frequently than others, depending upon the demand.  It was a true partnership that was successful and has continued.”

The health education and prevention programs GBVHC offers are aimed at improving birth outcomes, chronic disease self management, weight management/obesity prevention, and prevention of substance abuse and HIV.  A good example of this is GBVHC’s role as the grantee for the Worcester Healthy Start Initiative. Working in partnership with multiple community organizations, this federally funded program targets hard-to-reach low-income, language and culture minority, and uninsured women, particularly African American and African born communities which have the highest infant mortality rates.

“Since we began the program in 1999, we’ve been able to target neighborhoods by linking our data with census tract data.  We identify where the infant mortality is occurring in the city.  When you look at the city as a whole, the average rate of infant mortality isn’t that bad, but when you look at the minority population and look at the census tracts, it is very high.”

Hess continued, “We help women who have limited resources to make their way through the system and access the services — daycare, housing, medical — that are available.  Some of the women are in violent situations and maneuvering through the court systems to get a restraining order for instance can be very intimidating for a young pregnant woman.  All of these types of support are important so that the women try to be as healthy and stress free as possible.  It’s a comprehensive look at the woman, her situation and her needs to help her access the care she needs.”

In 2004, GBVHC secured another four years of funding for the Healthy Start Initiative.

For the commitment it has shown to unite communities in need with caring health professionals and to build better systems of care, GBVHC has been awarded the NHSC Award of Excellence.  A long-time partner with the NHSC, it has shown excellence throughout its departments and programs, and it has improved its systems and patient outcomes.  Hess expressed his appreciation, “We have a lot of patients who rely on us, and it was nice to get the recognition.”

Learn about other NHSC success stories.