CRCH has been awarded a grant of just over $1,078,000 as part of the state’s Community Health Center Capital Investment Grant Program! This program was established thanks to community health centers advocating to the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers for capital funding and in turn, the League successfully advocating to our elected officials and the state for this critical support. The application process was considered “non-competitive” which allowed all CHCs that applied to receive some funding.
We will use our Community Health Center Capital Investment Grant Program funding over the next 2 years for specific IT and Facilities related projects including:
- An upgrade to our CITRIX software,that will allow staff to access our EHR and other network resources without a VPN or a CRCH-owned device, meaning we’ll have more flexibility for how staff connect remotely to our network
- A core switch upgrade that will replace outdated IT networking equipment
- Fiber cable upgrade which will increase our network bandwidth and improve the way our systems work
- Acquisition of new key fob system that will allow us to merge the systems at our Brighton and Waltham sites and increase security
- Security cameras for vision and pharmacy departments at our Brighton location
- Replacement of exam room chairs at both locations
- Cell phone service upgrade inside our Brighton location that will help patients’ ability to place and receive calls and text messages from inside our facility and sign up for and use our patient portal
- Paint the interior of our Brighton and Waltham locations
These are basic but important IT and facility upgrades that will be extremely helpful in maintaining and improving our IT infrastructure and the inside and outside of our buildings at both our Waltham and Brighton locations. The quality of our facilities should reflect our commitment to equity, to give our patients the nice clinical and waiting room space they deserve when they seek care at CRCH. We are confident these IT and facilities updates will improve patient and staff experience. Using grant funding to pay for them will also allow us to use operating funds for other services and needs.
