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Community Benefits & Health Needs
Addressing Community Health Needs
At Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), one of our core values is providing high-quality, equitable care to everyone in our community. Fostering healthy communities means ensuring access to medical services, yet it encompasses much more. Service to community is at the core and an important part of our mission. We have a covenant to care for the underserved and to work to change disparities in access to care. We know that to be successful we need to learn from those we serve.
This Community Benefits mission is fulfilled by:
- Implementing programs and services in our Community Benefits Service Area (CBSA) to improve the current and future health status of medically underserved communities which are challenged by barriers in accessing and interacting effectively with the healthcare system, and impacted by other social determinants of health.
- Ensuring that all patients receive equitable care that is respectful and culturally responsive and that the medical center is welcoming and inclusive.
- Encouraging collaborative relationships with other providers and partners to support and enhance effective health policies and programs.
Through our Community Benefits Department, we work in collaboration with the area’s residents and key community stakeholders to address the health needs and priorities identified by our Community Health Needs Assessment, conducted every three years.
In recognition of the considerable health disparities that exist in some communities within our CBSA, we focus the bulk of our community benefits resources on improving the health status of those who face health disparities, experience poverty, or who have been historically underserved living in Chelsea and the Boston neighborhoods of Allston/Brighton, Bowdoin/Geneva, Chinatown, Fenway/Kenmore, Mission Hill, and Roxbury.
Guided by the Community Benefits Advisory Committee (CBAC), we aim to address the most pressing health needs in each community by conducting the 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA). Learn more about the CHNA process and how you can help guide our community health strategy for the next three years.
Community Health Needs Assessment
Guiding Principles
We strive to ensure that our work in the community is both meaningful and impactful. Each of our Community Health Needs Assessments is guided by these core principles:
- Accountability: Hold each other to efficient, effective and accurate processes to achieve our system, department and communities' collective goals.
- Community Engagement: Collaborate meaningfully, intentionally and respectfully with our community partners, and support processes initiated, driven and led by the community, especially with populations experiencing the greatest inequities.
- Equity: Apply an equity lens to achieve fair and just treatment so that all communities and people can achieve their full health and overall potential.
- Impact: Employ evidence-based and evidence-informed strategies that align with system and community priorities to drive measurable change in health outcomes.
Priority Areas
Our health equity priority areas include: equitable access to care, social determinants of health, mental health and substance use, and complex and chronic conditions.
Resource Guide
The Community Resource Guide was developed to highlight health and social service resources available to the community. As a disclaimer, the listings within this guide are informational and not meant to be taken as recommendations or endorsements.
Reports & Implementation Strategies
The Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) and the Community Health Implementation Strategy are the culmination of nearly a year of work, involving thousands of community residents, service providers, community advocates, state and local public officials, and staff throughout BIDMC, its affiliates and its community partners. We are proud to be a founding member and active participant in the Boston CHNA-CHIP Collaborative.
We participate in the North Suffolk Integrated Community Health Needs Assessment. The CHNA and implementation strategy represents our commitment to better understand and address the health-related needs of those living in our CBSA.
Discover our recent CHNA reports and learn about the health priorities identified in our communities and the steps we’re taking to address them.
- 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment
- FY2026-2028 Implementation Strategy
- 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment
- FY2023-2025 Implementation Strategy
- 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment
- FY2020-2022 Implementation Strategy
- 2016 Community Health Needs Assessment
- FY2017-2019 Implementation Strategy
Learn more about Beth Israel Lahey Health's commitment to the community.
To learn more about how BIDMC is working with our communities to address the leading health issues, read our Community Benefits Reports:
Contact Us
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center welcomes any comments you may have on our most recently conducted CHNA and implementation strategy. Please submit your comments by email to Anna Spier, or mail them to:
Anna Spier
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
330 Brookline Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
Visit Beth Israel Lahey Health's website to learn more about how we are improving health equity across the communities we serve.
BILH Community Connections Newsletter
To learn more about how we're helping your community, please sign up to receive the quarterly Community Connections newsletter for any BILH hospital(s) of your choice.
