Moulton checks in at Lynn health center

LYNN – There were a couple of issues on the agenda Thursday morning when U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton visited the Lynn Community Health Center to help observe National Health Center Week.Moulton congratulated the health center on its many accomplishments, and announced that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will award the LCHC $400,000 for behavioral health/primary care integration at the health center.?This is an investment,” he said. “Integration is fundamental to health care success in Lynn and in America.”Also on hand to mark the occasion was state Sen. Thomas M. McGee, who said, “It is the people who work right here at the health center that make it a national model for care.”But there was another reason for the standing-room-only gathering at the LCHC?s atrium, and one very appropriate to the central theme of “Celebrating Our Legacy/Shaping Our Future,” according to executive director Lori Abrams Berry.The center will bid farewell to Chief Medical Officer Dr. Scott Early and welcome Dr. Kiame Mahaniah to replace him.?Our founders envisioned a place where people could receive full integrated medical and behavioral health care, and we celebrate their legacy every day with the care that we give,” Berry said.Early, whose first medical job was in a rural health center, spoke about how the health center movement has inspired him.?Health centers are full of committed people from different disciplines working to integrate care and improve patient outcomes,” he said. “More than anywhere else, it happens here in Lynn.”?Lynn has the opportunity to be a national leader in health care,” said Mahaniah. “It is the best care that anyone could receive, but it is especially our responsibility to make sure that those who live in the shadows of our communities have access to health care. This is a social justice issue.”Al DiLibero from General Electric, which sponsored the event, spoke about the partnership that has been achieved over the past few years with the health center.?GE has a phenomenal partnership with Lynn Community Health Center,” he said, noting the collaboration between GE employees volunteering at the health center and sharing skills-based techniques with health care providers.At the close of the event, three pieces of original artwork from students at Raw Art Works were unveiled.?When it comes to shaping our future, there is nothing more important than the youth in our community,” said Berry. She introduced Mary Flannery, founder, and Kit Jenkins, executive director of Raw Art Works, who spoke about the 20-year partnership between the health center and RAW, and introduced the latest project, a public art project done by the Women Art Muralist Team.At the end of the event, guests were invited to witness the “unveiling” of a 16-foot-long “healing vine,” which depicts healing flowers from different parts of the world.