Now known as Charles River Community Health, Joseph M. Smith Community Health Center (JMSCHC) was created through the efforts of Allston-Brighton residents who came together in 1968 to assess the health care needs of the community.
This task force, under the dynamic leadership of Allston resident Joseph M. Smith, took to the streets and talked with residents about their health care needs and their difficulties in finding appropriate care, and determined through many discussions that Allston-Brighton lacked affordable health care providers and services for its residents.
The group began planning a center which would address the identified needs for both medical and dental health services. The group's vision was realized in 1974 when the health center, then called the Brighton-Allston Community Health Corporation, opened its doors to serve the community with compassionate, comprehensive services. The Center’s mission was to provide the highest quality, comprehensive, culturally competent and affordable health care to individuals and families in Allston-Brighton, regardless of circumstance. Mr. Smith became the founding president of the health center’s board and continued to drive the vision of the health center as a community facility dedicated to meeting the needs of underserved residents. He believed the health center had “the people, potential and interest to become the most respected voice in community health care in the state.” Regrettably, Joe Smith passed away at the early age of 49, leaving behind a community enriched and enhanced by his dedication and energy. To honor his memory, the health center was renamed the Joseph M. Smith Community Health Center in 1979.
Serving primarily Irish and Italian immigrants in the 1970s, today JMSCHC serves people from Guatemala,He believed the health center had “the people, potential and interest to become the most respected voice in community health care in the state.”
Russia, China, Haiti, and many other countries. JMSCHC continues to meet community needs through our medical, dental, vision and mental health departments; our special clinical programs, designed to reduce health disparities; our bilingual, bicultural staff who speak 20 languages; our insurance counselors, who guide families through the process of enrolling in MassHealth (Medicaid) and other public health insurance programs; our Outreach Department, whose staff goes into the community to connect with residents who are disenfranchised from the health care system; and our use of technology such as Electronic Medical Records to improve patient care and reduce health disparities.
Our community-based Board of Directors, 53% of whom are health center patients and 59% of whom live or work in Allston-Brighton, continues to uphold Joseph M. Smith’s vision of a community health center that is responsive to the needs of the community and provides high-quality health care to all those in need.
Since the health center’s beginnings in a local low income housing development, JMSCHC has continued to adapt and expand to meet community needs. There are no other Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), FQHC Look-Alikes, or critical access hospitals in our service area. In 1997, we renovated and moved to our current site on Western Avenue in Allston and in 2004, we opened a site in Waltham to fill the vacuum left by the closing of Waltham Hospital. Between 2008 and 2011, we opened a Vision Center, satellite locations in two Boston Public Schools, two on-site pharmacies at our clinical sites, and an administrative site to expand clinical capacity at our Waltham and Allston sites.
While these renovations and additional locations have allowed us to grow from 10,000 to 61,000 visits a year and serve nearly 12,000 patients annually, JMSCHC currently has wait lists for medical, dental and mental health services, and does not have the space to sufficiently continue to meet growing patient and community needs. In order to meet these long term needs, JMSCHC plans to build and own a new $26.5 million, 48,000 square foot LEED certified facility in Brighton. This will consolidate and replace our main Allston site, our Vision Center, and our administrative only site so we have the necessary space to see more patients.
The new facility will greatly improve access to medical, dental, mental health, vision, and pharmacy care and is appropriate for our community, as
JMSCHC is the only provider in the service area whose target population is low income, uninsured and public insured, culturally diverse community members.
There are no other Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), FQHC Look-Alikes, or critical access hospitals in our service area. JMSCHC is the only resource in Allston-Brighton for Charles River Community Health is incredibly excited for this next chapter, which will help to further promote the mission and vision upon which the health center was founded, by allowing us to continue provide quality, comprehensive, culturally competent and affordable health care to the residents of our community. The new facility will be completed and open for use in April 2015.
