Recipe for a Healthy Malden - from the Malden Observer, June 8, 2007
Add $7 million dollars, stir for five years, top with 76,000 square feet and a pinch of open space, and serve alongside a flowing river: It’s a recipe for getting healthy in Malden, now being dished up on Canal Street. Cambridge Health Alliance unveiled the new Malden Family Medicine Center at a grand opening Monday afternoon, with tours of the freshly-minted facility and honorary appearances from local legislators, politicians and health officials who helped bring the center to town.
Dozens of community members also flocked to the ribbon-cutting ceremony, from parents and children to retired area physicians and school nurses looking for the latest in wellness care for students. “Today is a very exciting and important day for Cambridge Health Alliance,” said Cambridge Health Alliance CEO Dennis Keefe at the ribbon cutting. “When we set out to do something, we do it on budget and on schedule. We have all worked tirelessly to make this vision a reality.”
Officially opening on June 18 to patients, the center at 195 Canal St. will ultimately staff 80 medical professionals, with capacity to take near limitless numbers of new patients in initial months. Along with family care, the center will include a residency program taught by select clinicians, walk-in care, night and weekend hours, and shuttle and home services for seniors. While it won’t be equipped to receive ambulances, it will be able to handle urgent care situations and emergency walk-ins if necessary. Cataldo ambulance, the city’s emergency response company, operates a dispatch garage across Canal Street.
“We take all comers,” said Randy Wertheimer, Chief of Family Medicine for CHA. She said the center will focus on chronic disease management, from asthma to diabetes, will offer social worker services and will even feature integrative and sports medicines. “We don’t turn anyone away. We are ready to go. This is just the beginning.” The CHA, a public agency, has partnered with Tufts Medical School to recruit top graduates to learn and work in the center. The Tufts University Family Medical Residency will staff a team of more than 30 family medicine doctors at the site. “The new students are starting the last week in June, so there was no room for error. We had to put it all together,” said Keefe. “By June 18, we’ll be fully staffed. We’ll really be able to go.”
The center was one of 14 nationwide selected to participate in the “P4 Initiative” – which stands for “Preparing the Personal Physician for Practice” – which focuses on training medical residents with the newest equipment and methods to practice family care. Helped by the center’s state-of-the-art X-Ray computers, group education rooms and electronic health records, veteran physicians will train Tufts University medical residents hoping to specialize in family care. The center is designed to be accessible to the town center and public transportation and shuttle services for elderly patients and those without transportation, officials said. “We are really grateful,” said Malden Mayor Richard Howard, who also credited CHA with helping the city fund a new senior center.
Cambridge Health Alliance is also helping to refurbish the immediate area surrounding the health center. In addition to the 301 free parking spaces adjacent to the family health center, CHA plans to add more parking in a now-vacant lot across the street from the facility. They also have donated $10,000 toward improving Green Street Park, which last week was rededicated “Choppa Field” in memory of WHO, and agreed not to include a methadone clinic or mental health component to the medicine center at the request of Ward 1 City Councilor Gary Christenson. Christenson, whose territory includes Canal Street, lobbied the city to fast-track CHA’s plans under the stipulation that the non-profit health group would meet those requirements. “They’ve been very cooperative and easy to deal with,” he said at the grand opening Monday. “Cambridge Health Alliance, welcome to Malden.”
To reach the Malden Family Medicine Center, call 781-338-0500. Appointments are being scheduled for June and beyond. Initial hours of operation are Monday through Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. By fall, the center plans to be open seven days a week. For more information, visit www.challiance.org/malden.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 2006, Malden, Mass.–
Combined Properties, Inc. (CPI) of Malden, is pleased to announce that Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) is leasing 195 Canal Street, their 76,000 sf building located a few blocks from Malden Center.
The building was purchased and went through a lengthy and complete redevelopment by Combined Properties. Cambridge Health Alliance will continue working on the property to create a new $15 million health center focused on family health. The building has easy access to public transportation, and will greatly improve healthcare access for local residents, particularly senior citizens and new immigrants. Cambridge Health Alliance is an innovative, award-winning health system that provides high quality care in Cambridge, Somerville, Everett, Revere, and the surrounding Metro-North communities. It includes three hospitals, more than 20 primary care practices, the Cambridge Public Health Department, and the Network Health plan. The 195 Canal Street property is on the Malden River and the public will have access to the river via a new footpath. CPI owns several buildings nearby including the abutting property at 171 Medford St., and 25 Riverview Business Park where their corporate office is. The redevelopment of 195 Canal Street is part of their commitment to Malden, as is their nearly completed 204-unit apartment building in Malden Center, 160 Pleasant Street.
"The new health center is truly going to be an asset for the city of Malden", says John Pereira, President of CPI. "We are thrilled that they are moving in and look forward to a long relationship." CPI worked on the lease with a collaboration of CHA representatives, including Paul Allison, VP and General Counsel, Dennis Keefe, CEO, Deborah Murphy, Senior Director of Operations at Whidden Memorial Hospital in Everett, and Randy Wertheimer, MD, Chief of Family Medicine. Dennis D. Keefe, CEO of Cambridge Health Alliance looks forward to the organization’s growth in Malden: "CHA is planning to provide a mix of medical services in Malden, with a new Family Practice Center as its main anchor," he said. Keefe likes the continuity this move will bring: "In fact, CHA has cared for patients from Malden for the last decade, with growing numbers of patients over the last 5 years following CHA’s acquisition of Whidden Memorial Hospital," he said.
CHA’s Executive Vice President Paul Allison is pleased with the city’s response to the project: "We have been delighted to have the support of Malden city officials in moving this project forward," he said. Dr. Randy Wertheimer is already hard at work on this project: "I was recruited as the Chief of Family Medicine just last fall, and am excited about the prospect of introducing new family medicine physicians to the Malden community. We have fine staff eagerly awaiting this project to reach fruition," she said.
CPI was represented by Vice President of Leasing Greg Regazzini, and CHA was represented by Phillip Burgess of Burgess Properties, Malden. |
