March 11, 2005

BPHC commissioner visits MGH Charlestown

John Auerbach, (seen below), commissioner of the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), visited the MGH Charlestown HealthCare Center Feb. 16 and presented the Charlestown BPHC Health Status Report to residents of the community. The report analyzed the five major health threats to Charlestown residents — asthma, cancer, maternal/infant care, obesity and substance abuse — and compared the data to the rest of Boston.

Based on data collected, the report found that obesity, lung cancer and substance abuse are areas of concern in Charlestown, while asthma and mother and child well-being data was better than the data for all of Boston. Both the BPHC and the health center are committed to improving the areas of concern with programs targeted to improve the data. Recently, the Charlestown community worked with the health center and the MGH Community Benefits Program to create the Charlestown Substance Abuse Coalition (CSAC) to address the issue of substance abuse.

"The commission asked me to host this year's presentation regarding the health of Charlestown and that shows the ongoing strength of our partnership," says Peggy Carolan, administrative director of the MGH Charlestown HealthCare Center. "It is a sign of the continued commitment of both parties to improve the health of the community."

The event was co-sponsored by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the BPHC, the Alliance for Community Health and the CSAC.