EDWARD M KENNEDY COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER INC

Founded in a Worcester housing project in 1972, today the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center has four medical facilities, three dental sites, three optometry practices and six school-based clinics serving residents of Worcester, Framingham, Clinton, Milford, and the surrounding communities of MetroWest and Central Massachusetts. Currently over 31,000 patients of all ages receive care and service through Kennedy Community Health’s family practice model of care, a comprehensive approach to the delivery of quality primary and urgent care, dental care, optometry, pharmacy, behavioral health, substance use treatment and services, social services, women's health, HIV/AIDs treatment and services, medical specialties, nutrition counseling, laboratory, and health education programs. Kennedy Community Health is certified as a patient-centered medical home by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), a model that supports the flow of information among medical teams, coordinating health care visits, utilizing electronic technologies for tracking and errors prevention, and providing follow-up while, most importantly, engaging patients in their care.

According to the Health Resources and Services (HRSA) Administration Uniform Data System (UDS), in 2021, about 14% of Kennedy Community Health’s patients resided in public housing, or 3,994 patients. Additionally, 90% of Kennedy Community Health’s reporting patient population was considered low income with 29% uninsured, 41% insured by MassHealth, 9% with other public insurance, 7% Medicare, and only 12% with private insurance.

Kennedy Community Health serves a patient population that is ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse; 53% of Kennedy Community Health’s patient population self-identify as Hispanic/Latino. Kennedy Community Health’s patients are also racially diverse, of those who reported, 9.8% of patients identified as Black/African American, 2.7% as Asian, 0.75% as Pacific Islander/Hawaiian, 0.01% as American Indian and/or Alaska Native, 35.7% as White, and the remaining 51% of patients identify as more than one race/multiracial. Seventy-one percent (71%) of our patient population is best served in a language other than English, speaking a range of 84 languages.

Kennedy Community Health is organized as a non-profit community health center governed by its Board of Directors, of which the majority of the members are patients as directed by federal statute. The President and CEO of Kennedy Community Health reports to the Board of Directors. Annually, the Board members evaluate the CEO, review hours of operation, review the bylaws, and conduct a self-assessment. There is a strong primary leadership team comprised of the President/CEO, the Chief Operating Officer, the Chief Financial Officer and the Chief Medical Officer.

Kennedy Community Health is a state certified minority enterprise, accredited by the Joint Commission and successful in Bureau of Primary Health Care reviews. We have a proven track record of timely, accurate and thorough reporting and submission of federal, state, municipal, and private grant applications and reports, both fiscal and programmatic. We take seriously our responsibility to monitor the progress of projects toward objectives, including monitoring contract deliverables and fiscal oversight.