Special to the Journal
During an announcement to its nearly 2,000 employees, East Boston Neighborhood Health Center (EBNHC) outlined plans to rebrand its health system, which serves more than 120,000 people and has an operating budget of $270 million. The largest community-based primary care health system in Massachusetts announced it will become NeighborHealth in June 2024, taking on a new name and visual identity.
“For over 55 years, we’ve proudly served the East Boston community. In recent decades, our thriving and growing health system is serving many more families, in many more communities through a comprehensive and diverse set of services, programs, and clinical locations. Now, as our state’s largest provider of community-based primary care services, we have an opportunity to unify our health system under one name that is inclusive of all our clinical locations and reflective of the diverse communities we serve,” said EBNHC’s President and CEO Greg Wilmot. “As NeighborHealth, we will remain as committed as ever to our mission and patient promise to provide high-quality, patient-centered care to all who live and work in our communities.”
EBNHC was founded in 1970 during the Civil Rights Movement to meet a gap in healthcare services for East Boston’s working class and predominantly Italian immigrant population, serving as a relief station for Boston City Hospital in the early 1900s. As its patient community grew beyond East Boston, EBNHC followed with new sites and services to provide more convenient care. Today, EBNHC operates nearly a dozen clinical sites throughout Greater Boston including East Boston, Winthrop, Everett, Revere, and Boston’s South End. Providing high-quality primary care services to the largest Health Safety Net population as well as the largest Latino population in the Commonwealth, NeighborHealth will remain committed to eliminating barriers to care due to disparities associated with race, cultural background, and economic status.
“Five decades ago, community leaders of East Boston planted a seed of love in the heart of our community that grew to become the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center. Joined together with the South End Community Health Center, we will become NeighborHealth, serving many thousands of families in several communities. Along with our entire Board of Directors, I’m brimming with pride,” said Rita Sorrento, EBNHC’s long-time Chairwoman of its Board of Directors.
“I am proud to see how East Boston Neighborhood Health Center continues to expand to meet the needs of our communities and remains committed to its founding mission of serving all who walk through our doors,” said EBNHC’s CEO Emeritus Jack Cradock. “Under the name NeighborHealth, I am excited to see the next chapter unfold and the positive impact it will undoubtedly bring to communities throughout Greater Boston.”
Acquired by EBNHC in 2020, the South End Community Health Center, with an equally rich legacy, will also embrace the new name, NeighborHealth, in June of this year.
“In the 1960s, I saw firsthand the urgent need for community-based primary care in the South End and was fortunate to join forces with an incredible group of people who shared my vision for justice in healthcare. For me, NeighborHealth symbolizes a renewed dedication to serve our communities with compassion and sensitivity, something we need now more than ever,” said Dr. Gerald Hass, co-founder of the South End Community Health Center.
Responding to community feedback, EBNHC worked with patients, staff, and community leaders across the Boston area to arrive at a name that best unified the health systems’ breadth of services across multiple campuses. The new brand, NeighborHealth, will align the health system’s visual identity with its mission and vision to deliver a healthcare experience that is compassionate, person-centric, culturally relevant, and most importantly – accessible to all.
Undergoing the official name change in June 2024, the soon-to-be NeighborHealth will continue to be a staple in Boston’s diverse communities by leveraging its core values:
• With community: We don’t just serve communities; we belong to them. We understand the lives of our patients because they’re deeply interconnected with our own; and that’s why we can address complex needs and cultural nuances. We’re more than providers; we’re neighbors.
• Open to all: Too many people face barriers to receiving high-quality care due to disparities associated with race, cultural background, or economic status. As a community-focused health system, we are committed to eliminating these barriers to provide the right care to everyone who needs it, no matter who they are.
• Beyond the clinic: We know that health care doesn’t start or end in the exam room. The fact is, where and how people live can have a profound impact on health outcomes and wellbeing. That’s why we take a holistic approach to care, working with community partners to engage people in the community before they become patients at our clinics.
• A valued team: A healthful workplace is essential to great patient care. That’s why we are committed to the wellbeing of our team, building a safe and supportive space where staff are recognized and valued for their work, and patients are treated based on their unique needs by providers they trust.
• Better care: We bring compassionate, high-quality care to communities across Greater Boston. Community, however, is not just a place where care happens – it’s a healthful state we all should aspire to. We live longer, healthier lives in community, with those who know and care about us. That’s why we believe that care in community is better. And that’s what we’re here to champion.
Patients and partners seeking additional information about the upcoming rebrand, please visit ebnhc.org.
East Boston Neighborhood Health Center is one of the nation’s largest Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and the largest community-based primary care health system in Massachusetts, serving over 120,000 people and recognized by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as a National Quality Leader. For more than 50 years, EBNHC has offered access to comprehensive primary care, specialty care and emergency care for patients in the Commonwealth. In a first-of-its-kind merger in 2020, EBNHC joined forces with the South End Community Health Center and expanded services to patients who live and work in Boston’s South End and Roxbury neighborhoods.
EBNHC champions innovative care models to actively bridge health equity gaps in our low-income and immigrant communities with services unique from other health care providers in our state. In addition to primary and specialty care, EBNHC operates Massachusetts’ only satellite Emergency Department, which is the fourth busiest ED in Boston and is co-located with advanced radiology, including CT scan services, same-day Behavioral Health Urgent Care and an integrated pharmacy. Today, EBNHC remains dedicated to promoting and sustaining healthy communities, families, and individuals both in and out of the exam room by providing accessible, person-centered, compassionate, and high-quality health care services. For more information, visit www.ebnhc.org.