Community Health Improvement Programs

Tufts Medical Center and its Tufts Children's Hospital established the Office of Community Health Programs in 1992 to respond to the challenges of an increasingly complex health care delivery environment, to meet the changing needs of Tufts Medical Center's diverse patient population and to focus on public health and disease prevention.

In 2008, the office changed its name to Community Health Improvement Programs (CHIP) to better reflect our aspirations to improve the health status of our core communities. Community Health Improvement Programs is charged with coordinating and facilitating a range of community-oriented activities, promoting collaborative efforts, and providing technical assistance to Tufts Medical Center departments in their community health outreach and improvement efforts.

In addition, CHIP coordinates reporting of the Medical Center's community benefits activities, provides funding and technical support for health education, outreach, and prevention projects at local community-based organizations and health centers, organizes community outreach participation and efforts, and seeks to improve the overall health, well-being and health knowledge of residents in the communities the hospital serves.

Our mission is:

  • To define the role and responsibility of Tufts Medical Center and Tufts Children's Hospital in supporting and sustaining the health and well being of residents in communities that have historic or developing relationships with the hospitals.
  • To provide leadership for academic medical centers in the creation of a model that implements a long-term community health agenda

Our programs include:

The Asian Health Initiative (AHI) identifies public health issues of particular prevalence or concern to the local Asian community and seeks to work collaboratively with local community-based organizations to help address those health issues in a culturally and linguistically appropriate setting. Learn more about AHI

The Dorchester Health Initiative (DHI) was established by Tufts Medical Center to address health issues disproportionately affecting residents of the various Dorchester neighborhoods by providing support for programs addressing identified priority health needs in the Dorchester community. Learn more about DHI

Parent-to-Parent (P2P) is a partnership between Tufts Medical Center and program sites in the Dorchester and Chinatown neighborhoods of Boston as well as the South Shore, primarily Quincy. The main goal of P2P is to reduce infant mortality and morbidity by improving access to health care and information for pregnant women and their children. 

The Asthma Prevention and Management Initiative (APMI) was established in 2006 to address pediatric asthma disparities in the local Asian community in response to an identified need among Tufts Medical Center Tufts Children's Hospital pediatric providers. They saw a spike in the number of children with asthma related urgent care visits. Since then it has expanded both its scope of services and the populations it serves. APMI provides educational programs in the local elementary and secondary schools, developed multilingual asthma educational materials used by providers and caregivers, provides comprehensive asthma home visits to improve self-management through assessment, education, and establishment of a plan towards environmental control of asthma triggers, and advocates for improved access to asthma related services. APMI was recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2014 with their National Leadership Award in Asthma Management. Learn more about APMI

Asian American Civic Association

Bird Street Community Center

Boston Asian: Youth Essential Service

Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center

Boston Health Care for the Homeless

Codman Square Health Center

Dorchester House Multi-Service Center

Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center

Kit Clark Senior Services

La Alianza Hispana

Neponset Health Center

Sportsmen's Tennis Club

Uphams Corner Health Center

Vietnamese-American Initiative for Development (Viet-AID)

Wang YMCA of Chinatown

Tufts Medical Center completes an annual Community Benefit Report to the State Attorney General’s Office that highlights our efforts to promote health and well-being of the broader community, with health priorities determined and identified in our tri-annual Community Health Needs Assessment. 

2019 Community Benefit Report

2018 Community Benefit Report

2017 Community Benefit Report

2016 Community Benefit Report

2015 Community Benefit Report 

Tufts Medical Center completes a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) every three years to identify health needs of our priority communities and guide our community health improvement efforts. In developing the CHNA, we review local public health data as well as input from health advocates and local community members, under the guidance of an advisory committee.

We welcome your comments to inform our next CHNA and implementation strategy.  Comments may be submitted by email to CHNA@tuftsmedicalcenter.org or by mail to the Office of Community Health Improvement Programs at 800 Washington Street, Box 116, Boston, MA 02111.

2019 Community Health Needs Assessment + Implementation Strategy

2016 Community Health Needs Assessment

2013 Community Health Needs Assessment

Community Health Improvement Programs
Tufts Medical Center
800 Washington Street, Box #116
Boston, MA  02111
617-636-1626
Fax: 617-636-8891

Staff
Sherry Dong
Director
617-636-1628
sdong@tuftsmedicalcenter.org

Beverly Wing
Program Consultant
617-636-8881
bwing@tuftsmedicalcenter.org