Cambridge Health Alliance
Encyclopedia
Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) is a healthcare system in Cambridge
, Somerville
, and Boston, Massachusetts' metro-north communities and one of the academic teaching hospitals of Harvard Medical School
.
As an integrated healthcare network, and one of the Top 100 most integrated health care systems in the nation, Cambridge Health Alliance serves patients at more than 30 clinical locations, including 15 primary care practices and 20 specialty centers. These sites include its three hospital campuses (Cambridge Hospital, Somerville Hospital, and Whidden Hospital) and community sites.
CHA provides a wide range of health services with a special focus on primary care, preventive health, behavioral health, and the needs of diverse communities. It also offers planned care programs for chronic disease and a three-site emergency department with more than 100,000 annual visits. CHA also has an electronic medical record that connects all its care sites.
, and the Network Health plan. The three CHA hospital campuses are Cambridge Hospital
, Somerville Hospital
and Whidden Hospital in Everett
. Each hospital has a 24-hour emergency department, and a wide variety of medical services.
In addition to the three hospital campuses, CHA has many community locations all serving patients in Cambridge
, Somerville
, Malden
, Chelsea
, Revere
, Everett
and Winthrop
. The Alliance also includes a Medicaid
HMO (Network Health) to serve Medicaid and Commonwealth Care patients throughout the state of Massachusetts.
. In 2001, Hallmark Health sold the Whidden Memorial Hospital
to Cambridge Health Alliance. All three hospitals were founded around the turn of the 20th century, with Somerville Hospital being the oldest. Since 2001, CHA has made major investments in all three hospital campuses include new facilities, medical staff, and technology.
Cambridge Health Alliance is affiliated with both of the large vertically integrated systems in Boston, Partners
and Caregroup, and together the three organizations jointly fund the Institute for Community Health, which conducts research on effective clinical and community health programs using the expertise of researchers from all three systems.
The CEO of Cambridge Health Alliance serves as commissioner of public health for the city of Cambridge
. Since the system was created in 1996, it has operated the Cambridge Public Health Department through a contact with the city.
- The Haitian Mental Health Team (the 2010 Schwartz Center Compassionate Caregiver of the Year)
- The Volunteer Health Advisor program (American Hospital Association NOVA Award).
The organization was also named a leader in Delivering Culturally and Linguistically Competent Patient Care by the American Hospital Association Institute for Diversity
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, Somerville
Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
, and Boston, Massachusetts' metro-north communities and one of the academic teaching hospitals of Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
.
As an integrated healthcare network, and one of the Top 100 most integrated health care systems in the nation, Cambridge Health Alliance serves patients at more than 30 clinical locations, including 15 primary care practices and 20 specialty centers. These sites include its three hospital campuses (Cambridge Hospital, Somerville Hospital, and Whidden Hospital) and community sites.
CHA provides a wide range of health services with a special focus on primary care, preventive health, behavioral health, and the needs of diverse communities. It also offers planned care programs for chronic disease and a three-site emergency department with more than 100,000 annual visits. CHA also has an electronic medical record that connects all its care sites.
Locations
CHA includes three main hospital campuses, a network of primary care and specialty practices, the Cambridge Public Health DepartmentMassachusetts Department of Public Health
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is a governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with various responsibilities related to public health within that state...
, and the Network Health plan. The three CHA hospital campuses are Cambridge Hospital
Cambridge Hospital
The Cambridge Hospital campus is a community teaching hospital located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three hospital campuses that are part of Cambridge Health Alliance.-Services:...
, Somerville Hospital
Somerville Hospital
The Somerville Hospital campus is a community teaching hospital located at 230 Highland Avenue in in Somerville, Massachusetts - near Porter Square and Davis Square.It is one of three hospital campuses that are part of Cambridge Health Alliance.-Services:...
and Whidden Hospital in Everett
Everett, Massachusetts
Everett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, near Boston. The population was 41,667 at the 2010 census.Everett is the last city in the United States with a bicameral legislature, which is composed of a seven-member Board of Aldermen and an 18-member Common Council...
. Each hospital has a 24-hour emergency department, and a wide variety of medical services.
In addition to the three hospital campuses, CHA has many community locations all serving patients in Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, Somerville
Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
, Malden
Malden, Massachusetts
Malden is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 59,450 at the 2010 census. In 2009 Malden was ranked as the "Best Place to Raise Your Kids" in Massachusetts by Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine.-History:...
, Chelsea
Chelsea, Massachusetts
Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. It is the smallest city in Massachusetts in land area, and the 26th most densely populated incorporated place in the country.-History:...
, Revere
Revere, Massachusetts
Revere is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and located approximately from downtown Boston. It is named after the American patriot Paul Revere. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 51,755.- History :...
, Everett
Everett, Massachusetts
Everett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, near Boston. The population was 41,667 at the 2010 census.Everett is the last city in the United States with a bicameral legislature, which is composed of a seven-member Board of Aldermen and an 18-member Common Council...
and Winthrop
Winthrop, Massachusetts
The Town of Winthrop is a municipality in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population of Winthrop was 17,497 at the 2010 U.S. Census. It is an oceanside suburban community in Greater Boston situated at the north entrance to Boston Harbor and is very close to Logan International...
. The Alliance also includes a Medicaid
Medicaid
Medicaid is the United States health program for certain people and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the state and federal governments, and is managed by the states. People served by Medicaid are U.S. citizens or legal permanent...
HMO (Network Health) to serve Medicaid and Commonwealth Care patients throughout the state of Massachusetts.
History
Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) was created in 1996 when the city-owned Cambridge Hospital merged with private, nonprofit Somerville HospitalSomerville Hospital
The Somerville Hospital campus is a community teaching hospital located at 230 Highland Avenue in in Somerville, Massachusetts - near Porter Square and Davis Square.It is one of three hospital campuses that are part of Cambridge Health Alliance.-Services:...
. In 2001, Hallmark Health sold the Whidden Memorial Hospital
Whidden Memorial Hospital
Whidden Memorial Hospital is a 162-bed medical/surgical and psychiatric hospital in Everett, Massachusetts. It is one of three hospitals in Cambridge Health Alliance...
to Cambridge Health Alliance. All three hospitals were founded around the turn of the 20th century, with Somerville Hospital being the oldest. Since 2001, CHA has made major investments in all three hospital campuses include new facilities, medical staff, and technology.
Cambridge Health Alliance is affiliated with both of the large vertically integrated systems in Boston, Partners
Partners HealthCare
Partners HealthCare is a non-profit organization that owns several hospitals in Massachusetts, primarily in the Boston area. Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital founded the organization in 1994...
and Caregroup, and together the three organizations jointly fund the Institute for Community Health, which conducts research on effective clinical and community health programs using the expertise of researchers from all three systems.
Residency and Fellowship Training
As the only healthcare organization that is a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and the Tufts University School of Medicine, CHA plays a unique role in the training of medical professionals.- Harvard Internal Medicine Residency Program - a premier academic community based training program with emphasis on primary care in underserved population with the flexibility of subspecialty training at other Harvard-affiliated tertiary care teaching hospitals, and in producing healthcare policy and community leaders. The training site of Harvard Medical School Cambridge Integrated Clerkship for Harvard medical students.
- Combined Training in Internal Medicine and Occupational Medicine - a new combined four-year training program began in 2010, administered by Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health which allow residents to become board-eligible in both specialties: internal medicine and occupational (preventive) medicine and receive a Masters of Public Health Degree (MPH) at HSPH.
- Family Medicine Residency Program - affiliated with Tufts University School of MedicineTufts University School of MedicineThe Tufts University School of Medicine is one of the eight schools that constitute Tufts University. Located on the university's health sciences campus in the Chinatown district of Boston, Massachusetts, the medical school has clinical affiliations with thousands of doctors and researchers in the...
. Based in Malden, MassachusettsMalden, MassachusettsMalden is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 59,450 at the 2010 census. In 2009 Malden was ranked as the "Best Place to Raise Your Kids" in Massachusetts by Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine.-History:...
as one of 14 nation-wide residency curriculum using the new model of residency training called Preparing the Personal Physician for Practice (P4). - Harvard Psychiatry Residency Program - one of the four Harvard Medical School Adult Psychiatric Residencies, and the department serves as a popular training site for Harvard Medical students.
- CHA also training programs in Podiatric Surgery, Dentistry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Geriatric Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatic Medicine.
Community Programs
Community health is a major focus of Cambridge Health Alliance. CHA touts a comprehensive approach to health improvement that includes programs to reduce health disparities and promote wellness, public health initiatives aimed at improving the overall health of our communities, and collaborative research projects that address health issues and health policy.The CEO of Cambridge Health Alliance serves as commissioner of public health for the city of Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. Since the system was created in 1996, it has operated the Cambridge Public Health Department through a contact with the city.
Multicultural Health
Cambridge Health Alliance is a safety net health system and a recognized leader in multicultural health. It works to maintain health care access to a large number of vulnerable and diverse patients through its interpreter services program and many bilingual primary care providers. It also has award-winning linguistic programs like:- The Haitian Mental Health Team (the 2010 Schwartz Center Compassionate Caregiver of the Year)
- The Volunteer Health Advisor program (American Hospital Association NOVA Award).
The organization was also named a leader in Delivering Culturally and Linguistically Competent Patient Care by the American Hospital Association Institute for Diversity
Research
- Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research
- Division on Addictions
- Division of Social and Community Medicine
- Institute for Community Health
Further Information
- WCVB - Channel 5 Boston, "Harvard Program Focuses On Bedside Manner", WCVB, September 27, 2011
- Bielaszka-DuVernay, Christina, "Taking Public Health Approaches To Care In Massachusetts", Health AffairsHealth AffairsHealth Affairs is a peer-reviewed healthcare journal established in 1981 by John K. Iglehart. It was described by The Washington Post as "the bible of health policy". Health Affairs is indexed and/or abstracted in PubMed, MEDLINE, EBSCO databases, ProQuest, LexisNexis, Current Contents/Health...
, September 2011
- Conaboy, Chelsea, "Connecting underserved patients to preventive care", Boston.comBoston.comBoston.com is a regional website that offers news and information about Boston, Massachusetts and its surroundings. It claims to be one of the most visited regional websites in the United States....
, May 23, 2011
- Nesin, Marjorie, "Cambridge Health wins Harvard Medical School Diversity Award", Boston.comBoston.comBoston.com is a regional website that offers news and information about Boston, Massachusetts and its surroundings. It claims to be one of the most visited regional websites in the United States....
, May 6, 2011
- Shaw, Gienna, "Case Study: The Coordinated ED", Health Leaders Media Breakthroughs, April 29, 2011
- AAMC, "The Academic Researcher: Bringing Science to Health Care Delivery", Association of American Medical CollegesAssociation of American Medical CollegesThe Association of American Medical Colleges is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC and established in 1876. It administers the Medical College Admission Test...
, April 20, 2011
- Daniel, Seth, "Practicing Teamwork – Revere Clinic is All About Collaboration and Communication", Revere Journal, March 3, 2011
- Parker, Brock, "Check online for hospital emergency room wait times", Boston.comBoston.comBoston.com is a regional website that offers news and information about Boston, Massachusetts and its surroundings. It claims to be one of the most visited regional websites in the United States....
, February 18, 2011
- Laidler, John, "Health care focusing on teamwork", Boston.comBoston.comBoston.com is a regional website that offers news and information about Boston, Massachusetts and its surroundings. It claims to be one of the most visited regional websites in the United States....
, December 16, 2010
- Falco, Miriam, "Study: Lack of breastfeeding costs lives, billions of dollars", CNN.com, April 6, 2010
- Fennimore, Jillian, "Federal funds help heal ailing Cambridge Health Alliance", Cambridge ChronicleGateHouse MediaGateHouse Media Inc. is a U.S. newspaper publisher, headquartered in Perinton, New York, that publishes 97 dailies in 20 states and 198 paid weeklies, in addition to free papers, shoppers and specialty and niche publications.- History :Liberty Group Publishing was formed in 1998 when Kenneth L...
, March 25, 2009