‘More than a location’
East Boston Neighborhood Health Center is taking ‘East Boston’ out of its name
The East Boston Neighborhood Health Center is planning a radical change: Taking East Boston out of its name. The switch to “NeighborHealth” come June will mark the Maverick Square-based organization’s first major rebranding since 1970, when EBNHC launched during the Civil Rights Movement to care for the working class and then-predominantly Italian community in East Boston. Some 50 years later, the center has expanded to include a dozen campuses from Winthrop to the South End, multiple pharmacies, and an emergency department. It now employs 1,800 people and serves more than 140,000 people annually.
Chief executive Greg Wilmot talked to the Globe about the thinking behind the change, the center’s expanding reach, and enduring fears about health care access in Eastern Massachusetts.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What led to this change?
At this moment, East Boston Neighborhood Health Center is serving more patients than we ever have before in more communities than we ever have before. That’s not just people coming to East Boston — it’s serving them through newer locations that are spread out around Suffolk County. We came to realize that as we participate in those communities as a partner, whether it’s in Chelsea or Roxbury, that our staff and our patients need to feel included.
Our name has a tremendous legacy. Folks know it represents a promise to our commitment to inclusive and robust healthcare. But we wanted to ensure that residents outside East Boston are brought into the fold, too. It is about our role as a neighbor. We are more than a location; we’re a relationship. This new brand, the new logo — all of that represents the interconnectivity of our health system across our sites.
When did you start to expand past East Boston?
It’s been a long time, probably about 10 years or so. We have followed our patients to the places of need, the places that are most convenient for them. Now we’re the largest provider of primary care services in East Boston, yes, but also in Chelsea and Revere. Last year, we opened up a new clinical location in Everett. In 2020, we acquired the South End Community Health Center. We also just rebuilt our emergency department, the state’s only satellite emergency department, by bringing in a range of new services.
So why make the change to the name now?
We engaged in a fairly lengthy process with our communities, key stakeholders, and our board of directors, which is patient-led. “NeighborHealth” is what we left those discussions with.
Do you see NeighborHealth’s role now in filling remaining gaps in the healthcare system?
Yes, always.
During the pandemic, what we at East Boston Neighborhood Health Center knew immediately was that Black and brown communities would have disparate medical outcomes. We made sure there were access points to treatment, so we had extended hours and services to allow folks with COVID to get care. We expanded testing and contracted with the City of Boston to provide it broadly in all neighborhoods. As vaccines became available, we expanded access points for vaccines in Revere and created one of the largest community-based vaccination centers in Chelsea. It only highlighted for us the importance of avoiding confusion because some people did not know they could access the vaccines because of the name on the door.
The other piece we learned during COVID is how fragile the healthcare ecosystem is. Just think about the trouble with Steward Health Care and the disruptions it has already caused to local communities. That activity will find its way to other area hospitals — and to us.
Our emergency department has the highest range of services possible to relieve the burden on Mass General Hospital and Boston Medical Center, in particular. We’re on track to have 50,000 visits this year.
Altogether, we want NeighborHealth to be a resource to address residents’ holistic needs. The rebrand is really all about connection between the staff, our community partners, and the people of Massachusetts.