Codman Fights COVID-19: Codman Sq. Health Center

I’ll get right to the point – we need your help. COVID-19 is stretching our healthcare system, including our nation’s community health centers. Codman Square Health Center serves as an essential provider during the COVID-19 pandemic to support our patients’ clinical, social, and economic needs and to prevent unnecessary visits to the emergency department and hospital. As the safety net for over 23,000 residents in Dorchester and Mattapan, we are working hard to meet the needs of our community during this difficult time and help keep patients out of crowded and overwhelmed emergency departments.

Community health centers like Codman Square Health Center are responding to COVID-19, serving as an important element of the nation’s public health system. Codman Square Health Center remains open to the community 7 days a week. We are helping keep individuals out of the overburdened Boston hospital system.

We are hearing in the news and seeing studies that those who are dying from COVID-19 are more likely to have one or more underlying health condition. While it’s easy to think of this as just older people, it is also an apt description of Boston’s minority neighborhoods like our Dorchester neighborhood. Diabetes, hypertension, asthma, heart disease, and HIV all occur at much higher rates in Dorchester than in the rest of Boston.

That’s why we are asking for your help. 90% of the patients we care for are Black/African American and almost 95% are from any racial/ethnic minority group. A high percentage of our patients have underlying health conditions that make COVID-19 more deadly. Every day we are talking with patients, supporting them through access to testing, triaging those who come to the health center, and ensuring that those who are most vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus receive the screening, testing, and care they need to weather this pandemic.

Here are some of the things we've been doing to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic:
- Beginning April 18, offering expanded access to testing for community members, first responders, and essential workers.
- Offering telephonic health care so that patients at home can be supported without risking unnecessary exposure.
- Expanding phone triage capacity to meet the demand and ensure that we have staff taking calls in the primary languages of our community.
- Continuing to screen all patients, visitors, and staff coming to the health center for COVID-19 before entering the building.
- Continuing to communicate proactively with patients, staff, and community.
- Most importantly, continuing to remain open to provide care critically needed to our patients and community.

Our patients rely on us to be there for them. Many are hourly wage workers, living paycheck to paycheck. When local businesses close or cut back they are the first to feel the effects. We operate a food pantry, provide WIC services to moms and kids, and much more. Since 1979, Codman Square Health Center has operated with the mission to serve as a resource for improving the physical, mental, and social well-being of the Dorchester community. If you share our mission, here are some ways you can help:

Make a Financial Donation
Your contribution helps to ensure that Codman Square Health Center can continue to serve the thousands who depend on us. All dollars raised will go directly to support our COVID-19 response efforts. Here are ways you can contribute:

1. Send us a gift on GoFundMe – help us reach our goal!
2. Donate via our website – http://www.codman.org/donations.html
3. Send us a check. Make out the check to “Codman Square Health Center” and put COVID-19 in the memo. Please send to the following address.
  Codman Square Health Center
  Attn: Eliott Rousseau
  Executive Office
  637 Washington Street
  Dorchester, MA 02124
4. If you have a charity or donor advised fund, you can contact [email redacted] for assistance.

Ask Your Employer to Match Your Gift
Many employers have matching donation programs. You may be able to double or even triple your impact just by asking.

Donate Personal Protective Equipment and Supplies
Just like hospitals and emergency rooms, Codman Square Health Center is short of Personal Protective Equipment or ‘PPE’ that is used to help keep our staff safe and healthy. We are in need of unused/unopened surgical masks, N95 respirators, surgical/protective gowns, face shields, gloves, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes. If you have items to donate, please click here  to complete a donation form.

Join Our Mailing List
We send out updates periodically to keep our supporters up-to-date on all the things we are doing to respond to COVID-19. You can sign-up for our donor newsletter by clicking here.

Spread the Word
Help us get our message out by sharing with your friends, co-workers, family members, and others in the community.

Thank you for your support and for sharing our lifesaving mission.