Celebrating the LCHC 2023 Annual Meeting & Staff Awards

“We begin this evening with a brief “state of LCHC”. We are currently 655 employees strong, and just over 40,000 patients call Lynn Community Health Center their primary care home. Our Behavioral Health providers have seen nearly 5,000 patients in the past year, our Dental Services team 12,000 patients, and our Eye Services team 6,700 patients. Our patient access post-COVID can still not meet our community’s demand, and as a result, our organization continues to be ready to nimbly pivot to meet the different needs of our community. While we try to feverishly hire and onboard providers and staff, our current workforce continuously comes up with innovative ways to take care of our patients.

In 2023, we have opened a pharmacy, and to date have completed 76,000 prescriptions. The pharmacy has also started giving immunizations against zoster and soon RSV, and they have been providing medication packaging for appropriate patients. Our School-Based Health Centers continue to deliver vital services to our youth population, and we are a respected model for others across the state; our Urgent Care strives to keep up with demand 7 days a week, in a city of 100,000+ without an ER; and our Obstetric services, including Moms Do Care, continue to provide compassionate care to our pregnant patients delivering 635 babies last year. Our Behavioral Health providers stepped up to be of service to Lynn citizens and students in the aftermath of the recent violence in Lynn. The immigrant crisis across our country, and here in the Commonwealth, is a humanitarian issue that health centers need to be ready to help in terms of healthcare and addressing social determinants of health. Here at LCHC, we are doing just that: ensuring children new to Lynn Public Schools are immunized in a timely manner and our immigrant and refugee services are meeting the ongoing needs. It is for this type of work that we exist. Finally, we are weighing in on policy through testifying at the Massachusetts State House on important issues that affect our patients and our delivery of care.

I cannot possibly capture the breadth and depth of services you all provide every day, and can only say from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Looking forward, what do we anticipate in the coming year?

• The Board of Directors are entering the final stages of hiring a new CEO.
• The Deborah Smith Walsh Recuperative Care Center will be doubling in size next month, and our outreach van will be arriving later this year, allowing the outreach team a mobile examination site, where they can even more adequately meet people where they are to provide care. Our outreach team has been active for 10 years this fall!
• Our SUD workgroup, formed in the last year, has started a same day suboxone start initiative, and we continue to plan for expanding our SUD services.
• Our pharmacy programming will expand into increased clinical pharmacy services, supporting PACE patients at Element Care, and aims to serve a larger percentage of LCHC patients.
• Our newly formed Community Support Programs Division, and SUD workgroup, are filling gaps in the care of some of our most vulnerable patients, and they will be vital to how we care for patients in a value based system.
• We have hired a new Director of Development, and we are building a robust system to tie our finances, grants and philanthropic fundraising together, so as to be as transparent and efficient as possible.

And finally, we will continue to serve our primary mission—taking care of our patients and community regardless of ability to pay. We need to remember the roots of where we started in 1971, to where we are today, and this common thread.  You should be proud of the incredible work you do, and I am humbled to be serving as your interim CEO.”

Annual Awards Presented

Board Member Laura Gallant announced the 2023 John S. Moran awardee and retiring Director of Development Clare Hayes announced the 2023 Andrea Gaulzetti Award for Excellence in Community Health.

We gratefully recognized our many staff members celebrating 5-year increment milestones.

Each staff member in attendance was escorted by their supervisor to the podium to receive their recognition.

Staff celebrating their 5-year anniversary:

• Dental Assistant, Rosaury Bencosme
• Dental Assistant, Olga Calderon
• HIM Specialist Lead, Maritza Caraballo
• HIM Specialist, Marisol Del Valle Balbin
• Business Transformation Advisor, Ana Irizarri Pena
• Dentist, Dr. Flavio Lopez
• Immigration Outreach Coordinator, Bridget Miller
• Dental Assistant, Irma Monterrosa
• Dental Assistant, Maria Muniz
• Interim Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Geoffrey Pechinsky
• Dental Assistance, Francia Rios Rios
• PASS Supervisor, Yessica Rodriguez Rios
• HIM Scanning Specialist, Melanie Swaim
• SBHC Therapist, Danitza Zambrana Gonzalez

Staff celebrating their 10-year anniversary:

• Dentist Specialist, Cristina Baens
• Dentist, Dr. Claudia Challabi
• Executive Administrative Assistant, Teresa Chamness
• School-Based Health Centers Nurse Practitioner Manager, Julie Chan
• Recuperative Care Center Team Medical Director, Gargi Cooper
• Dental Sterilization Technician, Deysi DeLeon
• Registered Nurse, Denise Fernandez
• School-Based Health Center Practice Manager, Michelle Garcia
• Referral Navigator, Lead Nathalie Gonzalez
• Referral Navigator, Maria Jimenez
• School-Based Health Center Lead Therapist, Rossemary Jimenez
• Medical Assistant, Eileen Knapp
• Assistant Nurse Manager, Lorraine Lozada
• Medical Assistant, Ana Pina-Vasquez
• Facilities Technician, Duane Toth

Staff celebrating their 15-year anniversary:

• Nurse Manager, Deborah Boyles
• Registered Nurse, Vicky Casides
• Retiring Director of Development, Clare Hayes
• Interim Senior Director of Operations, Greg Hood
• Dental Assistant, Karen Jimenez
• Dentist, Dr. Nasser Kamali
• IT Applications, Trainer Becky LeBlanc
• Registered Nurse, Jenny Reyes
• Patient Accounts Manager, Philip Smith

Thank you to all those who were in attendance, and most importantly, thank you for the work you do each and every day to provide care to our community and to make LCHC an excellent place to work!