Lynn health center names new chief medical officer

LYNN – Only days after naming its new Union Street building in honor of retired Dr. Stephen Hayes, the Lynn Community Health Center has appointed a prominent North Shore doctor as its chief medical director.Dr. Scott Early said Thursday he knew in junior high school he wanted to be a physician. It was a life calling cemented long before attending medical school. As an undergraduate, he joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corp, working at a community health center in rural Louisiana.”I had my first experience with health disparities in our country and how challenges such as poverty and discrimination contribute to poor health,” said Early.He comes to Lynn from Caritas Christi Health Care, where he served as vice president for family medicine.Early is no stranger to the region. He is best known as the founder and long-time director of the Family Medicine Residency Program at the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center.He is also well regarded nationally for his leadership in the conceptual development of the Patient-Centered Medical Home and of Teaching Community Centers, both of which are an integral part of the national health care reform agenda.Patient-Centered health care is relationship-based, focusing on the whole person instead of individual maladies. Health care for the patient is coordinated among the several providers.Early attended Dartmouth Medical School and completed his residency at the University of Washington Group Health Cooperative. Since his experience in Louisiana, he has remained committed to expanding quality health care to those who need it most.During Hurricane Katrina and last year’s Haiti earthquakes, he volunteered for medical relief teams.The new medical director is married to Dr. Elizabeth S. McGovern, who joins her husband in Lynn as a family practice staffer at the Lynn Community Health Center.Early said it’s an exciting time for health care and joining the Lynn facility. “Since Massachusetts enacted health care reform, our community health centers have seen exponential growth,” he said. “At the same time, we face a severe shortage of primary care physicians to meet this growing need.”According to Early, he plans to lead a three-year Patient-Centered Medical Home demonstration project in Lynn, funded by the state Department of Health and Human Services.The intent of the project is to improve the quality of patient care, while reducing long-term costs. The strategy involves partnering the patient with all his or her health care providers rather than scheduling individual visits for every medical issue.”A more integrated approach would allow us to care for more patients in the time that we have, at a greater convenience for them, and at a lower cost for the overall system,” he said.Asked to describe his long term goals, Early said, “They are very simple. I want to see the Lynn Community Health Center become the best community health center in the United States.”