First of all, I want to apologize; it has been a while since we have sent a newsletter out concerning all that has been happening at South Cove.  During this period of time, the staff has been extremely busy with all the changes concerning the Accountable Care Act, MassHealth, and the insurance exchanges.   We in Massachusetts used to pride ourselves on having access, second to none, in signing up patients for care.  This all changed during the period of the Accountable Care Act with the Commonwealth Care patients being transferred into other plans and MassHealth.

Today, South Cove has more than 30,000 patients; mostly non-English speaking or reading, who do not have access to a computer, and so, as of the first of the year, we had some 8,000 patients that needed to be re-registered under a new system with new programs that could only be accessed in either English or Spanish.  As everyone knows, who has lived through this process, the system was down more than it was up.  The patients were lined up out to the street and scheduled out as far as three months to be re-registered into a new plan.  It got worse before it got better, and there were days when we were filling out paper applications.  I can only thank the staff at the health center that persevered 7 days per week, and many hours of overtime to get this enormous undertaking completed.

Remember, at South Cove, we have a second part in the application process. When the patients finally receive notification of what plan they have been accepted under; they receive a letter again in English and they must come back to the Social Services Department and sit down with a counselor and have this letter explained, and be enrolled into the type of insurance they were notified of.

True to our mission, the staff persevered and did an extraordinary job, while this process was going on, the health center, was open 7 days per week, seeing patients, adjusting to the many changes concerning the Meaningful Use, upgrades to our electronic medical records, in between having our JCAHO evaluation, and becoming a Level 3 Medical Home in all locations.

All of this cannot be accomplished by any one individual.  It takes many people, all with the same mission to make this happen.

Sincerely,

Many hospitals and community health centers have long looked for ways to make their patients' visit as enjoyable as possible.  South Cove serves primarily Asian speaking patients that were born and raised outside of the US.  Priding ourselves in providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services to these populations, our latest effort looks to go one step further in that regard but from a different angle, with the goal to make the patient experience at the clinics more soothing and friendly.  To that end, we have been working for months on enhancing the aesthetics of our clinics by displaying art that reflects our patients' cultural backgrounds and heritage.

In Quincy we have just installed a collection of prints, photos, paintings and other art objects that are representative of the Asian arts.  This collection of over 85 pieces gives a glimpse into the wide array of techniques used and the talented pool of Asian artists, including youth and local artists with a couple of them being South Cove staff members!  Each piece was carefully selected to fit a chosen theme and deemed appropriate for the space.  For example, art work in the pediatrics area all share an exuberant, youthful vibe.  Artwork on the 4th floor of our 88 Holmes Street clinic where the outdoor Zen garden is located contains a collection of gardens and floral paintings that go hand in hand with the garden.  Perhaps the most striking of the collection will be the mural to be hung at the 435 Hancock Street pharmacy area.  The mural will be 6.5 x 9 feet featuring the most recognizable landmark of the Boston Chinatown: the Chinatown gate.  Chinatown is where South Cove had its humble beginning.  It is a reminder of where we started, how far we have come and also how we are committed to our founding mission of serving the Asian populations and the underserved. 

This truly is a remarkable project that would benefit our patients, the artists whose work we commissioned and the staff who work out of these locations!  But ultimately, we hope that this effort will make our patients' visit more pleasant, and elicit a comforting, reassuring and calming effect on them.   

We are excited to unveil the entire collection sometime in late June.  Each piece of art will have a small plaque with the name of the artist, the name of the work followed by a description in English, Chinese and Vietnamese.

Below is a preview of the collection!  

Collection at 88 Holmes Street:

Collection at 435 Hancock Street:

The collection is assembled by Betty Bothereau and Rhea Wharton of the L'Attitude Gallery and donated by the Asian Healthcare Foundation of Massachusetts.

The Joint Commission Certificate is displayed at all locations.

 

The survey was the culmination of the innumerable hours spent over the past 12 months examining, and making adjustments as necessary, every aspect of the four clinics' daily functions.  All policies and procedures were also reviewed and updated to reflect the latest standards and changes made. This was an enormous undertaking that would not have been possible without the cooperation of every single staff member.  It is hard to perform at a high level, but even harder to maintain that level of performance and consistency over a long period of time.  At South Cove, with this latest round of success in renewing our accreditation, we would like to think that we have done and are doing just that.  

As many healthcare facilities are pushing for quality measures, receiving the Joint Commission's seal of approval is in itself a quality measure, and a testament to the health center's commitment to high quality and standards. 

In the September 2013 issue of the newsletter, we detailed South Cove's upcoming $3 million capital improvement commitment to remodel & reconfigure spaces at the 145 South Street clinic and the 885 Washington Street clinic in Chinatown. The construction was originally slated for a January 2014 start late. But due to multiple redrawing of the plans and delay in obtaining permits, we have had to push back the date. We are glad to report that after months of docking, the ship is finally ready to sail! We are looking at a start date of mid-June. The construction consists of 5 phases.

Phase I: At 145 South Street. We will be working on the second floor, to enlarge the kitchen, add a locker room and a storage closet. We hope to have this part completed by mid to end of August. The existing locker room and kitchen in the garden level will be demolished to make room for other clinical services.

Phase II: This phase consists of relocating the EI program and the Dental medical records, currently in the garden level, to the second floor, both temporarily while we work on their permanent space. This will then allow us to start the largest part of the construction, which will be closing off most of the garden level, only leaving open the Eye Department and WIC Program. We will demolish everything, but the four existing bathrooms. This includes replacing the air handlers and putting a new ventilation system through the building to the roof.  

When this part of the project is completed, we will then move the dental medical records back to the garden level, which will also be the permanent home of the entire Behavioral Health Department. Additionally, there will be a second eye room, a new reception desk and seating area for patients.

Phase III and IV: It will start by ripping out the old Behavioral Health Department and only leaving the Dental Department operating on the first floor. We will also have a temporary check-in for Dental patients while we work on the rest of the space (old Behavioral Health Department and old WIC area).

When the construction is finished on the first floor, we will have the new

Women's Health clinic, which will consist of a minimum of five exam rooms, a nurse station, two intake areas, and phlebotomy. We will also have a new lobby that serves OB/GYN, Dental, Mammography, Ultrasound, Bone Density, and Family Planning. The current Mammography reception area will be remodeled into a Family Planning office and a new Ultrasound room.

We hope to start this phase sometime in September and it will probably not be completed until January 2015 at the earliest.

Phase V: 885 Washington: The final phase will be at Washington Street, which will consist of demolishing the Medical Records room, making that area into a scanning center for electronic medical records. We are expanding the seating/waiting area, adding one more exam room to the Pediatrics Department, one more office to Social Services Department, and re-opening the conference room that has been closed for the use of Social Services for the past 6 months. Finally, it will also give Adult Medicine at least 3 new exam rooms where the Ob/Gyn Department once was.

When all the commotion is set and done, what we will have is a brand new Women's Health clinic at thh South Street location, and a much expanded Adult Medicine department at the Washington Street clinic. Other departments mentioned above will also have expanded working area and/or new space, all these in the hopes of making the patient experience at South Cove friendly, convenient and efficient.

South Cove received a nice letter from Clement Liu, the son of a long time patient, expressing gratitude for the care his father received before passing away peacefully. 

We sent our condolences to Mr. Liu and his family and appreciated Mr. Liu for taking the time to send us this note during what must be a difficult time. 

Letters like that of Mr. Liu's is what keeps us committed and motivated day in and day out to serve every patient with the best care possible.  They place their trust in our hands and we owe it to them to reciprocate with the quality care that they deserve.

My father, Chung Liu, passed away on March 29 at the age of 104.  He was at home with my sister and me by his side, in peace and without pain.

My father's good health and longevity was a result of the great care provided by the South Cove Community Health Center.  We are most grateful for Dr. Gail Lee's and Nurse Pauline Kwan's resolute attentiveness and compassion through three decades.  Even as the Center's patients keep on increasing, they would always find time for my father, and would never miss a beat.

Please keep up the good work.  

South Cove Stat Dragons 2013

What a long and frigid winter we had, but the good news is we are finally out of the tundra!  Time to awaken from hibernation and flex those muscles!  It is also time to be one the water and paddle down Charles River in celebration of a long-standing sporting event - the Boston Dragon Boat Festival.  Entering its 35th season, it is the longest running dragon boat festival in North American.  Proud of our Asian heritage, South Cove has entered a team every year since 2004, making our 11th consecutive appearance this year. 

The festival is on Sunday, June 15, 2014 this year, featuring dragon boat races and festivities along both sides of the Charles River near Harvard Square from 9am to 5pm.  We encourage all South Cove staff, friends and supporters to come cheer Team Stat Dragons on!  The festival happens to fall on Father's Day Sunday, so treat dads to a great live sporting event, Asian performances and crafts, and sample some zong-ze, the signature food of the festival celebrating the great Chinese poet Qu Yuan and Dragon Boat race.

For complete festival and race information, please visit Boston Dragon Boat Festival. 

South Cove Community Health Center will be hosting its Annual Corporate Meeting on Tuesday, June 17, 2014 at the Quincy clinics. 

Eugene Welch will highlight the health center's achievements and accomplishments in the past year as well as outline South Cove's future plans.

New Board members will be elected at this meeting.

Attendees are invited to tour the newly unveiled art work at both the 435 Hancock Street and 88 Holmes Street clinics.

Friends and staff of South Cove are welcome!  Please RSVP to Helen Quach at hquach@scchc.org by June 13, 2014.

640 Washington Street, Brighton, MA 02135