Commitment to Community

Brigham and Women’s Hospital has a long-standing commitment to improving the health of our Boston residents. Focusing on neighborhoods with disproportionately poor health and a need for better health care and social services, our Center for Community Health and Health Equity (CCHHE) and its health center partners provide a broad array of community service and community health programs, which are designed to have a measurable, positive effect on the health status of underserved populations.

We have a long list of successful health initiatives developed by BWH for the Boston community. Here are just a few examples:

• Open Doors to Health Colorectal Cancer Screening Program – partnership between Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center, and Brookside Health Center to increase colorectal cancer screening rates for underserved populations
• Stronger Generations– a comprehensive and collaborative effort to eliminate disparities in infant mortality and poor birth outcomes through clinical and community-based approaches
• Perinatal Case Manager Program – a group-based model of prenatal care designed to enable women to develop strong social support networks through the integration of health assessment, education and support
• Connecting Hope, Assistance and Treatment (CHAT) Program – helps women with breast cancer who have insufficient income or insurance coverage to pay for necessary services related to their breast cancer diagnosis
• Passageway – providing services to patients and employees who have experienced abuse from an intimate partner
• Student Success Jobs Program (SSJP): Pathways to health and science careers for young people – a year-round intensive internship/mentorship program for 50 Boston public high school students to engage them in the medical, health and science professions
• BWH’s Summer Youth Programs - including Summer Science Academy for rising 9th graders and Project TEACH (Teen Education About Careers in Health) for rising 10th graders
• Workforce Development Program - with the members of our community, Brigham and Women’s Hospital aims to primarily engage our entry level and middle-skilled workforce through various Workforce Development initiatives and expose youth to careers in healthcare and the world of work through employment experiences.