April 16, 1999

MGH·Chelsea HealthCare Center caregivers and staff had an opportunity to highlight successful community benefit programs last week when they led Massachusetts Sen. Thomas F. Birmingham (D-Chelsea), senate president, and Sen. Richard T. Moore (D-Uxbridge), senate chair of the legislature's Health Care Committee, on a tour to highlight the center's efforts to keep Chelsea school children healthy.

Moore has been encouraging school districts to develop more school-based health centers, and his interest led him to MGH·Chelsea, which has operated a successful clinic at Chelsea High School since 1991.

The Chelsea High Student Health Center serves 450 students, approximately half of the student body, and handled nearly 1,300 visits last year. The Student Health Center provides primary care, treatment for acute and chronic illness, mental health services, sports physicals, immunizations, referrals for nutrition counseling, pregnancy prevention and substance abuse services.

Birmingham and Moore toured Chelsea High with Chelsea city and school officials – including Guy Santagate, city manager, and Douglas Sears, PhD, superintendent – as well as Howard Koh, MD, MPH, Massachusetts public health commissioner, and representatives from the MGH and Partners HealthCare.

"The partnership that has developed among MGH·Chelsea, the city and Chelsea schools is extraordinary, and I believe it can be a model for other communities," said Moore. "We know that children can't learn if they are not healthy. In MGH·Chelsea, this city has an invaluable partner in ensuring the health and education of children in the community."

Tom Sterne, MS, medical director, MGH·Chelsea, left, talks with Birmingham.