FY2023
Annual
Impact
Report

Dear friends,

The Harvard Street Community Health Center embarked on a number of new growth ventures in 2023, while continuing to provide top-tier health care and programs for our community, laying the foundation for an exciting 2024.

In an increasingly complex industry, community health centers remain an anchor of our health care delivery systems; in Massachusetts, over 1 million patients obtain services from federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). Like Harvard Street, other FQHCs exist and thrive because the underserved deserve frequent, first-class care in the fields of primary care, dental, behavioral health.

This year, we were fortunate enough to transition to the Boston Medical Center (BMC) network, joining its Boston Accountable Care Organization (BAC), beginning in January 2023 for commercial patients and in April 2023 for Medicaid patients. Our close working relationships with doctors and providers throughout the BMC system continue to allow Harvard Street to connect our patients with top-notch care in one of the finest medical cities in the world.

Further, Harvard Street and other facilities like it provide more than just traditional health care services in our neighborhoods; FQHCs serve largely as community centers, offering a positive, healthy space and programming tailored to our neighbors’ needs and interests.

In February, we were honored to host US Representative Ayanna Pressley, the three-term Boston congresswoman who is the first Black woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts. Congresswoman Pressley led a panel discussion on the Post Disaster Mental Health Response Act, which she filed after speaking with Boston Marathon bombing survivors and which President Biden had signed into law shortly before her visit. The law builds on federal mental health support for survivors of natural disasters, domestic terror attacks, and other crises.

To further our mission and continue the Center’s growth, we expect significant progress in the coming year on our physical expansion, which will allow us to sustain our trajectory of serving more people in our community health center role. Having operated from our Blue Hill Avenue headquarters since 1976, we are sorely in need of more space and refreshed facilities, which this expansion will provide.

The new facility, a proposed 45,000 square foot, three-story building, will fill three currently underused building lots behind our current building, will allow us to house all of our programs under one roof, maximizing our efficiency, and will increase our patient count, as well as our staffing levels by 15 percent.

In sum, this year has been a productive year for Harvard Street and has set the stage for an exciting 2024. We remain incredibly proud to be part of a vital neighborhood organization, and we are grateful to our committed staff, patients, and the many partners that allow us to continue delivering on our mission.

Kindest regards,