For its efforts in working with AACA and offering the "Learn at Work" program to the staff, South Cove was nominated and selected along with seventeen other agencies in the Commonwealth to receive the English Works Certificate of Recognition.   The Statewide Certificate of Recognition Event took place at the New American Center in Lynn on Thursday, September 22, 2011.  Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray was present, as were close to a hundred attendees representing the government, business and the non-profit sectors that have joined forces to offer English learning opportunities for the immigrant communities. "This is a good news story: how business working cooperatively with government is creating opportunities to realize the American Dream." Lieutenant Governor Murray said.

The English Works Campaign offers employees the chance to learn English at work, and "people embrace the idea of learning at work," said Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Joanne Goldstein. "It's good for business, it's good for workers, it's good for the Commonwealth, and it's good for us as a community."

"Certificates are awarded to private, public and non-profit employers and joint labor-management programs that support English language classes for immigrants in the Commonwealth."  Eugene remarked that this program has truly been a gift not only to the employees but to South Cove Community Health Center. It opens new opportunities for employees to grow and better communicate with the English speaking world.  He expressed his sincere thanks on behalf of the entire health center for this opportunity and the recognition.

Linda, Gillian (AACA), Lieutenant Governor Murray, Eugene, Mei Ying and Sunny (AACA)

South Cove Recognized for Outstanding Performance

South Cove was awarded a certificate by the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), a federal program with the mission to foster and promote useful part-time opportunities in community service for unemployed low-income (under 125%FPL) persons who are age 55 or older. The certificate was presented by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs and The Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.  It recognized South Cove for "Outstanding Performance of a Host Agency" and for "providing the most rewarding community-service assignments to mature workers in Boston."

"At your agency Senior Community Services Employment program participants learn many valuable skills and become a part of the larger community.  We appreciate your commitment to our mission and dedication to the people we serve." - SCSEP

"SCCHC was nominated by SCSEP because we provide vital training and we value the older workers, we also hire them because they are good workers. We have been working well with the SCSEP program," commented Frances Ma, Social Services Department Manager, who serves as point of contact and oversees the program on the health center end.

Secretary Ann Hartstein of the Executive Office of Elder Affairs presented Frances Ma with the certificate.  Also in attendance were South Cove staff, program participants and representatives from the Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center, with which South Cove works on worker recruitment and placement.

South Cove was recruited as a host agency in November, 1994.  Over the years, the health center has worked with 35 elders.  All participants were assigned to work at one of the three locations: South St, Quincy or the BASE Afterschool Program.  Job functions ranged from billing, medical record related, to being an EI (Eearly Intervention) playroom staffer or performing general office work.  All participants learned valuable skills from South Cove staffers; 8 out of 35 were hired by South Cove as a regular part-time because of good performance. The term for any assignment is two years, after which, if regular part time position is not offered, they would either move on to the next assignment or retire.    

Secretary Hartstein poses with Frances and all participants

Dr. Roland Tang Honored by ABCD's Head Start Program

South Cove's Dr. Roland Tang was honored with an award by ABCD (Action for Boston Community Development) on Thursday, September 22, 2011 at the Federal Reserve for his volunteer work with the low-income residents in the Boston community. 

Dr. Tang started working with Head Start in 2003 to provide parent health educational sessions at the ABCD Chinese Church Head Start, and then became the citywide Head Start health consultant and a member on the Head Start Health Advisory Committee.

Dr. Tang was one of 19 awardees recognized at the Awards Reception, and there will be a Community Awards Dinner on October 27, 2011 at the Seaport World Trade Center.

Dr. Tang joined South Cove's pediatrics team in 2003 from California.  Half of Dr. Tang's time is devoted to outreach & community work.  Computer and technology savvy, Dr. Tang is also the driving force behind the health center's EMR (electronic medical record) project, providing invaluable input from a medical end user's perspective. When not seeing patients or out and about in the community, Dr. Tang works on the "Meaningful Use" of the EMR, designing and implementing measures to improve the qualities of health center's care and patients' overall experience.   

ABCD presents Dr. Roland Tang with his award

Celebration for Staff, Board Members & Families 

The dedicated team of 200+ staff is the backbone of the health center. As part of the celebration series, South Cove is hosting a party in honor of its staff on Saturday, May 12, 2012, in Chinatown with the traditional Chinese banquet style feast.  

As part of the special issue for the Allied Health Job Fair in August, the Boston Herald put together an insert highlighting careers in nursing with a focus on nursing in community health setting.  South Cove was one of the four area community health centers, along with Dimock, Fenway and South End Community Health Centers, interviewed for this piece.

Titled "Serving Hub Communities," the article debugs the common conception that community health center nurses have it "easier" than their hospital counterparts.  There are different sets of challenges but certainly not any less stressful, "it's a challenging job. You must be dedicated to patients and be able to multitask," remarked Mary Jo Majors, a nurse and Director of Clinical Operations at South Cove.  Community health center nurses often work long hours, but find rewards in the long term relationship they build with patients and in serving a community to which they have a cultural affinity.  Nurses Chia Mei in Pediatrics and Kathy in Adult Medicine shared their thoughts on what it is like to work at community health centers and what is unique about South Cove.  "It is much more rewarding," Kathy explains "because you help patients control their health over the long term," and Chia Mei agrees stating that "you really bond with patients and their families here... I feel I make more of a contribution to the Asian community working here rather than at a hospital."

Nurses Chia Mei, Kathy and Mary Jo taking care of a South Cove patient (photo courtesy of Boston Herald)

The article also underlines a growing trend where no longer are community health centers serving only the poor or the uninsured.  It cited a recent study by the George Washington University and the University of Minnesota showing that when previously uninsured people gained the option of healthcare coverage, they still go to their local community health centers.  The research also demonstrated with numbers that across the country, community health centers are serving more and more patients.  This is a statistics that we at South Cove do not need to look further to confirm; our patient number has risen by 9,000 in the past five years and we have had an average of 9% patient growth over the last eight years.  This could be attributed to the identity of South Cove: 98% Asian staff serving 95% Asian patients.  And because of the culture and language, patients feel much more comfortable and at easy when communicating with our staff their medical needs and concerns.  What nurses Chia Mei and Kathy expressed are precisely what made South Cove and its fellow community health centers unique. It is no surprise that more and more people are choosing community health centers over hospitals for primary care.   

We thank the Herald for shining the spotlight on community health center nurses.  Special thanks to South Cove's team of 17 nurses who believe in the mission and dedicate themselves to serving the underserved Asian community of Massachusetts. 

Please click to see the aritcle at the Boston Herald website.    

South Cove serves a large population of elderly people, who often require more personalized services as well as additional help in their daily living.  Senior Whole Health ("SWH") is an agency that specializes in serving this group of patients.  Its mission is to "maximize our members' quality of life, health, security and independence by offering a voluntary health care plan that's simple to join, provides security and peace of mind through support and advocacy, and helps members live as independently as possible through comprehensive, community-based support and services."  Recognizing the need of our patients for services that SWH offers and given its proven track record, we teamed up with SWH to provide more resources for the South Cove elders.  

In the summer issue of the SWH newsletter, it applauded South Cove's work and celebrated this partnership.    

Article below reprinted with permission.

The Chinatown festival entered its 42nd anniversary this year and was held on Sunday, August 14, 2011.  The event was organized by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, the Chinatown Business Association and Chinatown Main Street.  As a long-time sponsor and supporter of this event, South Cove was presented with a plaque in appreciation for the health center's work and contributions to the Chinatown community.   The festivities included traditional lion dance, dragon parade, music, folk dance, martial art, Chinese opera singing, Asian arts and crafts, last but not least, food, because no celebration is complete without food in the Chinese tradition! The festival concluded in the late afternoon with thousands estimated to have participated in this joyous celebration.

The following Sunday, August 21, 2011, was the Quincy celebration.  Organized and hosted by the Quincy Asian Resources, Inc., it marvels that of the Chinatown one even though it is not as long-running (entering its 24th year).  Whereas the rain held off on the previous Sunday for the Chinatown festival, it decided to not miss out on the fun in Quincy.  The festival managed to attract large crowds despite the dampness.  Similar to the Chinatown one, the Quincy festival featured a packed program and entertainment including family activities, dance, live performances and food sampling just to name a few.      

Euegne and Co. at the Quincy Festival

At both festivals, the South Cove booth had representatives from various departments with health information relevant to the community, as well as brochures on services offered by the health center.  In celebration of the holiday and promotion of the health center, South Cove gave out handy first aid & travel kit for all that visited the booth.