NEW Health, a federally qualified health center and an affiliate of Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Medical Center, has been recognized as a 2019 National Quality Leader and Health Center Quality Leader by the Quality Improvement Awards of the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), a federal agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NEW Health, with sites in the North End and Charlestown, is the only Massachusetts community health center to be recognized as a National Quality Leader for two consecutive years.
As a National Quality Leader, NEW Health ranked in the top one to two percent of all health centers in the country in one or more of the clinical quality measures that promote behavioral health and heart health in 2019. NEW Health is also a Health Center Quality Leader, which means the center achieved the best overall clinical performance among all health centers and was recognized in the Gold tier (top 10 percent) for clinical quality measures in 2019.
Overall, NEW Health is ranked in the top 4 percent of all 1500 community health centers nationwide. Given this recognition, NEW Health has been granted $175,000 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to further strengthen quality improvement activities.
Most recently, NEW Health also opened two COVID-19 testing sites for the communities in which it operates; the sites launched this summer and will continue to operate as long as they are needed. The sites are open to all existing patients, as well as all Charlestown and North End residents; testing is available without a referral and even to residents who are not exhibiting symptoms. Testing is covered by all major health insurance providers; if patients have no insurance or insurance does not cover, the tests are still provided for free.
Both NEW Health locations on Hanover Street in Boston’s North End and at 15 Tufts Street in Charlestown are also open and accepting new patients for services in departments including Adult Primary Care, Pediatrics and Adolescent Primary Care, Behavioral Health, Dental Care, Vision, Podiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN), Radiology, and Lab. Staff continue to follow strict guidelines and cleaning protocols to guarantee a safe environment for patients to receive care. Appointments can be made by calling 617-643-8000 for the North End location and 857-238-1100 for the Charlestown location.