Honors for Eastman
Posted 6/14/2010
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Dr. Carroll Eastman of the Joseph M. Smith Community Health Center was honored with the Outstanding Massachusetts Community Health Center Physician Award at the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers' annual Awards Gala on June 11.
The center is a member of BIDMC's Community Care Alliance.
The award was established to give recognition to a physician who has demonstrated consistent support of, and devotion to, the delivery of community health-care services through clinical practice.
"I came to the health center in large part because of the leadership of Dr. Eastman and her ability to tackle the challenges faced by community health centers," said Dr. Kamau Karanja, associate medical director of the health center. "Open access, patient satisfaction and staff satisfaction are just a few examples of the many problems that have been essentially 'solved' under her leadership."
A graduate of New York University Medical School, Eastman began practicing medicine in 1990 and has been committed to the patients served by health center for more than 15 years. With an accessible and inclusive style of leadership, Eastman utilizes a team approach to involve staff in improving health-care delivery to the center's patients, a substantial number of whom are uninsured or underinsured.
"Dr. Eastman is a teacher and researcher, but most importantly, a compassionate clinician who champions those without 'voice,'" said Dr. Alex Gonzalez, medical director, Fenway Health. "Her advocacy for these patients at the center and its affiliated hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is yet another dimension of her stellar leadership."
This year alone, Eastman oversaw the implementation of a 340B pharmacy through which eligible patients may purchase prescription medications at significantly reduced prices. She worked with IT staff to devise an open access scheduling model giving patients better access to the services they need and cutting the center's no-show rate by 50 percent. And she was instrumental in establishing primary care teams as the health center moves to a Medical Home model of care providing patients with improved comprehensive care coordination.
"Carroll is the rock that our primary care providers, support staff and all other staff look to and rely on for information, support and energy," said Liz Browne, executive director of the health center. "Her dedication to her patients is a shining example of why community health centers are such special places to receive care."
Joseph M. Smith Community Health Center has been providing primary health-care services and selected specialties to families and individuals in Allston-Brighton, Waltham and surrounding communities since 1974. The center provides health care to children and adults; the insured and uninsured; the employed and unemployed; and to all who dwell within its communities, including long- and short-term residents and recently arrived immigrants.
Established in 1972, the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers is a nonprofit, statewide association representing and serving the needs of the state's 52 community health centers. The league serves as an information source on community-based health care to policymakers, opinion leaders and the media and provides a wide range of technical assistance to its members and communities.
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