“Although we live in an age and place in the Merrimack Valley where cellphones, tablets, computers and smart devices are commonplace and virtual medicine has seemed like a tangible idea to many, the leap from in-center to telephonic and virtual medicine had never materialized. Then an unfathomable crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, came along.”
“It took months of repeated contact for Maria Carmen Bedard and a coworker to help a homeless man suffering from alcoholism and other illness to get the treatment he needed. Like many of the patients that Bedard, clinical manager at Lowell Community Health Center, approaches through the organization’s Behavioral Health Community Partners program, he was skeptical at first.”
“When Karen Peugh first visited Life Connection Center, she was amazed by the nonprofit’s approach to its care for the city’s homeless population. She was touched that the organization provided a plated, wait- service meal for its visitors. ‘To have people wait on them and serve them is very unique, and their approach … it’s about the individual and helping them to realize and remember that they still matter to their communities,’ said Peugh, senior director of integrated care management at Lowell Community Health Center.”
LOWELL, MA – Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan applauded the awarding of $665,000 in federal funding to support the Lowell Community Health Center. The funding, to be dispersed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, will be used to reduce health disparities of the Southeast Asian and LatinX populations of Lowell.
“Political leaders who proudly promote this city’s rich diversity with annual festivals celebrating cultures of origin from Southeast Asia to Africa were taken aback last month when their “listening session” on race elicited residents’ painful experiences with racism right here in Lowell.”
“David Turcotte and a team of collaborators have compiled and published the Greater Lowell Community Health Needs Assessment every three years since 2013. The lengthy document probes factors influencing residents’ health, like housing, education and employment. It analyses public health data and identifies residents in the community with the highest risk.”
“As physician leaders in our Greater Lowell community, we are dedicated to taking care of patients across the entire life spectrum. Throughout the course of our practice, we have had the opportunity to hear thousands of patient stories about their lives, their conditions, their struggles and their accomplishments. As part of these stories, one thing becomes quite certain — the intersection of race and health cannot and should not be ignored.”
“As COVID-19 spread across the region, Vanessa Perez worried that her 16-month-old daughter would not receive important vaccines on time. The last time the Lowell resident and her daughter, Jeyla Aponte, had visited the Lowell Community Health Center was shortly after Aponte turned a year old in February. Then, amid the pandemic, the health center shifted most visits to telehealth, and stopped administering pediatric vaccines. Aponte needed her 15-month vaccines and blood work, Perez said.”
“A group of local organizations, businesses and community members is asking the city of Lowell to follow Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s lead and declare racism a public health crisis.
‘His actions lay bare what we know to be true: we cannot address structural racism and inequities in our City by sticking to the status quo,’ according to the letter. ‘Instead, we must take decisive steps towards change. We strongly urge you to join the City of Boston in declaring racism a public health crisis and commit to addressing it immediately.'”
“Before COVID-19 began to sweep through Massachusetts and the country, Samantha Jordan and Lindsey Roberts never had much of an opportunity to work together. As chief of dental services and laboratory supervisor, respectively, at Lowell Community Health Center, their paths weren’t often likely to cross. But since late April, the two havebeen working together three days a week, helping to collect specimens at the health center’s COVID-19 testing operation on Jackson Street.”
