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SCCHC E-Newsletter

South Cove has been a fixture in both the Chinatown and Quincy August Moon festivals for many years. Together with Chinese New Year and the Dragon Boat Festival, August Moon rounds up the Chinese holidays that the health center celebrates every year. 

The Chinatown festival entered its 42nd anniversary this year and was held on Sunday, August 11, 2013.  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.  

L-R: Nancy Wong of the Behavioral Health Department, Eugene Welch and Eric Tiberi at the South Cove booth.

 
At the main stage, visitors watched opening remarks by representatives from different organizations, followed by various performances including dancing, musical, martial artists to name a few.  On Beach and Harrison Streets, the central point of the festival, there were traditional lion dance, dragon parade, Asian arts and crafts.  And last but not least, food, because no celebration is complete without foods in the Chinese tradition! The festival concluded on a beautiful Sunday with thousands estimated to have participated in this joyous celebration.

The Quincy festival traditionally follows the one in Chinatown.  This year, it took place on Sunday, August 18, 2013.  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 26th year).  Similar to the Chinatown one, the Quincy festival featured a packed program and entertainment including family activities, dance, live performances and food sampling. 

Eugene Welch speaks during the opening ceremony of the Quincy Festival.

The August Moon festivals may be a signature event of both the Boston and Quincy's Asian community but it is an event that transcends ethnicity, it is a celebration of an Asian holiday that has consistently attracted people of all cultural backgrounds. Combined, they draw close to 20,000 attendees every year and hundreds of businesses and organizations. Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch called the festival a "great symbol of our community's rich cultural diversity," which holds true for the city of Boston as well.   

Being a major sponsor of the Chinatown festival and the presenting sponsor of the Quincy festival, South Cove had representatives from different departments. The South Cove booth had health information relevant to the community, as well as brochures on services offered by the center.  In celebration of the holiday and promotion of the health center, South Cove gave out beautiful maroon shopping bags and other promotional items to all that visited the booth. 

About the festival:
Held on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month,  the August Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival, is the celebration of the end of a harvest season with a big feast. 

The staple Chinese delicacy of August Moon is the moon cakes, which are square or round pastries filled with a variety of fillings such as lotus paste, red bean paste, nuts and dates.  Recently, many merchants have come up with a twist to the traditional moon cakes by using healthier fillings.  Moon cakes are often exchanged between friends, relatives and one another as a way of giving thanks.

On Saturday, August 3, 2013, South Cove threw a one-of-a-kind going away party for two long-time providers: Dr. Roland Tang and Dr. Kenneth Yeung; they put a combined 16 years of service into the community. 

There is a Chinese saying 天下没有不散的宴席, the direct translation would be that "no banquet lasts forever," or more philosophically, everything good comes to an end.  While we do not think the latter applies in this case as we are certain that their services will continue to benefit those whom they serve, but it is not without a sense of gloom that their tenure with South Cove has come to an end. 

Both Dr. Tang and Dr. Yeung came to South Cove at the very early stage in their career.  Together over the years, Ken and Roland and South Cove have shared so many memories, including the birth & celebration of their first child and then the second; the many Christmas parties attended by both families and countless wonderful moments.  In many ways, it is saying good-bye to a family member dear to the health center and the thousands of patients whom they have gotten to know over the years.  As their departure date(s) crept near, it was decided that it would be fitting to have one last banquet in their honor!

The party was attended by close to 250 staff members, board members, guests and those who have worked closely with either doctor outside of South Cover over years, including representatives from the Children's Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Josiah Quincy School. 

The highlight of the party came when Eugene presented both families with Boston souvenirs including caps and lunch bags for every member of the family.

Euegne presents Dr. Roland Tang & Co. with their "Beantown Souvenirs"!

Eugene presents Dr. Kenneth Yeung & Co. with their "Beantown Souvenirs"!

Following the presentation, both doctors took the podium.

In his speech, Dr. Tang described how he felt over 10 tens ago when he first moved to Boston with his then newly-wed wife.  They didn't have any family here and South Cove took them in with open arms.  South Cove taught him "how to talk to my patients, and taught me how to understand where they were coming from.  But not only did the staff at South Cove teach me how to take better care of our patients, but you were also taking care of me and my growing family," thanked Roland.

He went on to express thanks to all the South Cove staff and said, "You are the people behind South Cove, whether you are seeing and helping our patients directly, or are part of the amazing support team managing the infrastructure, finance, and maintenance of South Cove.. I have been so fortunate to have been part of your team, and I will definitely be carrying your spirit of service and generosity to the next place I go." 

Lastly, he expressed gratitude to Eugene Welch, for "mentoring me, for trusting me, for sharing with me your passion and belief that our work to care for the poor, the widowed, the orphans; is the highest professional calling we can have."     

When it was his turn, Dr. Yeung spoke about how it was when he first disclosed to his patients that he would be leaving South Cove soon.  Besides expressing their reluctance to see him leave, the most frequent question that they asked was: "who would you recommend to be my new PCP? Can you refer me to a "Good Doctor?"  So that got him thinking, what makes a "Good Doctor"?  The answer that he came up with is: a good doctor is a Loving Doctor.  A devout Christian, he quoted the Bible, it said "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." (1 Corinthians, 13:4-8).  He then concluded by saying: "I think this will take me a lifetime to learn."

To Dr. Tang and Dr. Yeung, thank you so much for the years you spent at South Cove, enriching the lives and well being of so many.  As you write the next chapter in your lives, we wish nothing but the best for you and your families!    

The gang poses for picture!

The party ended amidst thank-you's, warm good-bye's and lots and lots of picture taking! 

Since the party:

Greeting from China's Great Wall with the Boston caps!

Dr. Tang and his family moved to Beijing, China in mid August.  The family is "enjoying the slower pace of life and being together" wrote Roland in an email.  He also sent us a wonderful photo of his two boys wearing the Boston caps from South Cove at the Great Wall of China.  Before ending his brief greeting from China, he thanked South Cove for all the support and help and felt "so buoyed by it."  Though it was sad to see them uproot from South Cove, we understand that it is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them and are so happy to hear that they are already making the most out of it.

Dr. Yeung and his family started their coast-to-coast road trip on Friday, September 20, 2013.  They are moving to San Francisco where Dr. Yeung will be practicing medicine at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation in the Sunnyvale/Fremont area. One of the reasons for Dr. Yeung's move was to be closer to his families in Hong Kong and Taiwan where they make yearly trips.  Those who are frequent flyers would appreciate and understand the relocation decision. We are glad they will have a shortened travel time for future trips and imaginably much less hassle!  

South Cove is about to embark on yet another construction project.  It is the Boston clinics' turn this time around.   Both the WashingtonStreet and the South Street clinics will be undergoing remodeling soon and the end result is to make 145 South Street a full-fledge clinic!

The construction will be divided into 4 phases:

Phase I: move the non-clinical items to the 2nd floor, which include the kitchen and the locker room.  The end result will be a much larger kitchen and a new locker room on the 2nd floor while shrinking the conference room by about 1/3 its old size.  

Drawing showing the finsihed reception area on the first floor at 145 South Street.

Phase II: the second phase involves demolishing the current layout on the garden level and reconfiguring the space to house a reception/waiting area, the new Behavioral Health department, the optometry department with two exam rooms and a new EI playroom.  Also to be done on the garden level is to raise the ceiling to a height of at least 7.5 feet featuring new air flow and lighting.

Phase III: the third stage will be to demolish the entire old WIC and Behavioral Health area on the first floor.  Removing the current reception area and building a temporary one while the construction is going on.  The dental department will stay intact with no changes planned.  The finished space will feature a new and bigger reception & waiting area for both dental and medicine.

Finished reception area on the garden level at 145 south Street.

Phase IV:  the last phase is to go back to the Washington Street clinic and do extensive remodeling starting with the front. Once we have retired the paper chart, we are going to demolish the Medical Record department area and move the sitting/waiting area back, rebuild and remove the front desk to create a 11 feet corridor to eliminate the confusion when entering the health center.  Then we will remodel the different pods.  First is to move the kitchen to where the conference room and family planning area are right now and expand the Adult Medicine area.  Once this is all said and done, we will end up with approximately 20 exam rooms, one of which will be an additional pediatric room.  It will have new in-take rooms and a generally much updated look.

The entire 4 phases will take between 12-14 months and we have made a $3 million commitment to the remodeling project. 

When this project is completed, it will give us more efficiency, better access by adding more providers and thereby cutting down the wait time.  Ultimately, it will allow us to better able serve our patients, which is the goal of all our remodeling projects and capital improvements past and present.

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