Community Initiatives
Beth Israel Deaconess was involved in community health from the earliest days, helping in 1969 to lead the conversion of Roxbury's New England Hospital for Women and Children into the Dimock Community Health Center. BIDMC has continued to support community health centers, which today are a vibrant, crucial part of BIDMC's delivery system. They are also at the heart of BIDMC's mission to care for the underserved and BIDMC's Community Benefits is leading the way.
In 1997, a BIDMC cancer survivor dedicated herself to educating the community and local hospitals about the experiences of people of color living with cancer. With her, the medical center formed The Multicultural Cancer Task Force. As one outcome, "We identified a lack of community-based support groups for people of color who had finished their medical treatment, says Ediss Gandelman, Director of Community Benefits. BIDMC partnered with The Dimock Center and The Wellness Community-Greater Boston, a program that provideds free support to cancer patients, to create the city's first weekly drop in-support group for people of color. Meetings are held at The Dimock Center.
