LYNN — U.S. Sen. Ed Markey toured the Lynn Community Health Center (LCHC) Deborah Smith Walsh Recuperative Care Center in recognition of National Community Health Center Week on Thursday.
“I try to spotlight the role that centers play in providing care for the community,” Markey said. “(There’s) over 270,000 visitors per year to the Lynn Community Health Center network.”
Markey was joined by Mayor Jared Nicholson, as well as LCHC CEO Brenda Rodriguez and other LCHC officials.
Markey was given a tour of the health center, highlighting the use of $1 million of the congressionally directed federal funds received by the LCHC to upgrade facilities in order to ensure access to low-cost and affordable medication and care for residents of the city and surrounding communities. The upgrades to medication access are specifically aimed toward those who are uninsured, underinsured, and low-income.
“For this National Community Health Center Week, folks need to know that community health centers really are the first responders, we’re the best solution to really address the most complex issues impacting our community,” Rodriguez said. “We know how to do integration, we have clinical programming that’s really superior, like the senator said.”
Markey was also given a tour of the new clinical van for LCHC’s Medical Outreach Program.
“This program really fills a niche, that otherwise would just go unserved in the community, and spotlights community health centers,” Markey said. “I just think it’s a good model for the whole rest of the country.”
According to the LCHC website, the outreach program is an initiative aimed at bringing essential health-care services directly to the city’s community.
“If you want great care, it doesn’t matter whether you are dealing with addiction or whether you are an executive professional with great commercial care. The community health centers are a place that you want to go to ensure that you’re getting the best care,” Rodriguez said.
