On Friday, February 3rd and Saturday February 4th, the Community Health Center Inc. held its Give Kids a Smile Day Event at our CHC dental sites. We are still tallying up the number of treatments and total number of kids seen, but as of now, over 150 kids were seen on Friday and Saturday and the total number is still growing! Waiting rooms were decorated with balloons and kids received goodie bags full of fun dental supplies. Some of the…
February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate African Americans who have fought hard for freedom and equality. It is a time to remember their successes and their struggles. While much progress has been made, there are still important hurdles to be overcome. One such area is in health disparities. According to the Center for Disease Control Among all racial/ethnic groups, African Americans bear the greatest burden of HIV in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and…
This morning, CHC President and CEO Mark Masselli addressed staff at a meeting kicking off the budgeting process for the 2012-2013 fiscal year. Among other key points of this speech, he spoke about the dedicated staff at CHC. Here is an excerpt of some of those comments: How fortunate Community Health Center is to find itself in its 40th year of operation with a staff that comes to work each day with an optimism in the work we do and…
This week on Conversations on Health Care, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter discuss health care reform with MIT Health Economist Dr. Jonathan Gruber, one of the chief architects of health care reform in Massachusetts, and a significant contributor to the development of the Affordable Care Act health reform legislation. Dr. Gruber discusses the economics underlying health reform, and his recent “graphic novel,” Health Care Reform: What it is, Why it’s Necessary, How it Works, which translates complex legislation into…
Though obesity is a preventable disease, it’s shocking how many children in this country are far from fit and healthy. Now the most prevalent chronic disease of childhood, obesity’s problems are exacerbated by increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure and asthma. Yet just sixty minutes of active movement each day makes a world of difference to a child’s health. That’s what the Recess Rocks program brings to schools. We provide a creative, dynamic movement program for…
As we sat down to write this blog about dental care and Give Kids a Smile Day, we reminisced about our dreaded childhood trips to the dentist. The bright lights, the sharp tools, and the flavored fluoride that never seemed to taste quite like it was advertised, are only some of our unfavorable memories. And who doesn’t recall the small talk the dentist makes while you wonder why they couldn’t seem to understand that one cannot speak with a mouth…