Special to the Patriot-Bridge
NEW Health, a community health center that serves the North End and Charlestown in Boston, is spreading awareness of diabetes health during National Nutrition Month.
NEW Health expert Patty Goodwin MHA, BSN, RN, Director of Nursing at NEW Health, is available to the media to discuss nutrition specifically in relation to management of diabetes. Her advice includes:
• Nutrition as a critical part of diabetes management and chronic illness care, and its impact on clinical outcomes and preventing complications. As Goodwin says, “It’s not about perfection or restriction—it’s about balance, consistency, and choosing foods that help your body work better.”
• Foods to Include in your Diet and WHY, including non-starchy vegetables, leafy greens lean proteins, brown rice and other healthy grains, oils and nuts, low-fat dairy, and high fiber foods
• Foods to Limit or Avoid in your Diet and WHY, including sugary beverages, highly processed carbohydrates, white bread, chips, candy, other sweetened foods, and large portions of any food
To speak with NEW Health Director of Nursing Patty Goodwin about nutrition tips for diabetes management, please contact us at the phone or email above.
NEW Health also continues its monthly complimentary produce distributions of a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables to Charlestown and North End patients; patients are referred via their primary care providers. Produce distributions take place monthly at the Charlestown site and by delivery in the North End. During March, in honor of National Nutrition Month, an additional produce distribution has been scheduled for March 16 at 11 a.m. at both the North End and Charlestown health centers. The regular monthly North End distribution will take place at 9 a.m. on March 20 (delivered door-to-door) and the regular Charlestown distribution at the health center at 15 Tufts Street will be on March 27 at 10 a.m.
Media are welcome to attend either of these distributions with advance coordination.
NEW Health’s Food Access Program, serving both its North End and Charlestown sites, was established in 2016. NEW Health is Charlestown’s first full-service health center and is committed to improving the quality of health and life for its over 5,000 patients in the neighborhood. The health center continues to increase their food insecurity efforts to help families in need with the help of the community.
As a federally qualified health center and an affiliate of Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Medical Center, North End Waterfront Health (NEW Health) extends its world-renowned healthcare services to people who live and work in and around Boston’s North End, Waterfront and Charlestown neighborhoods. NEW Health is committed to improving the quality of health and life for those it serves by providing high quality health care that is consumer oriented, culturally appropriate, neighborhood-based, affordable, and produces positive outcomes. NEW Health is a 2023 Health Center Quality Leader (HCQL), the only Massachusetts health center to receive a Gold badge from the Health Resources and Services Administration, among the top 10% of health centers nationwide.
NEW Health has been serving the North End of Boston and the surrounding community since 1971. In addition to primary care services for all patients, many specialty services are also offered including dental, vision, behavioral health, obstetrics, gynecology, laboratory services and x-ray services. NEW Health is a private, non-profit corporation that is governed by a community-based Board of Directors and licensed by the Department of Public Health. More information at www.newhealthcenter.org, on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.