Efforts to expand health services in Hyde Park announced

Mayor Kim Janey and the Health & Human Services Cabinet yesterday issued a Request for Information (RFI) for partnerships to expand health services in Hyde Park. The City of Boston is seeking ideas about how to best improve the health of Hyde Park residents, ranging from satellite community health centers to additional health programming. Program ideas must work to enhance access to services that improve the health and wellbeing of Hyde Park residents. Hyde Park has a life expectancy below the rest of Boston, with a higher number of hospitalizations due to diabetes and injury than other neighborhoods. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hyde Park residents were disproportionately impacted by the virus and at some points led the city in the percentage of positive cases. Today, almost 70% of Hyde Park residents have received their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, highlighting the importance of community-based health services in the neighborhood.  

“The pandemic has made clear that public health starts with access to health care that is close to home. Yesterday, we marked an important milestone in bringing community health care to Hyde Park, right here in the Hyde Park Community Center, in a shared space with Boston Centers for Youth and Families,” said Mayor Janey. “In the City of Boston, residents are our highest priority. This work is about meeting people where they are ensuring that services offered in the community align with the local resident needs.”

The City has identified space in the Hyde Park Community Center as a location to be used to support and strengthen health services in the neighborhood. The building is largely occupied by the Hyde Park Community Center, which is operated by the Boston Centers for Youth & Families. Additional area within the building is currently vacant and being considered for the community health center or space for other services that strengthen the health of Hyde Park. To help support the build out of this space, the City of Boston has allocated up to $2 million in the FY22-26 Capital Plan to renovate the space to provide neighborhood-based healthcare services.

“I am thrilled that, with the partnership of the City and the Janey administration, we have been able to put out an RFI and move forward with the first health center in Hyde Park,” said Councilor Arroyo. “Our neighborhood was disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 as a result of inequities that predate the pandemic. Thank you to Mayor Janey, Chief Martinez, and the residents of Hyde Park who brought attention to the needs of our community.”

The Request for Information is an opportunity for interested entities to share their vision for and experience with health services, as well as provide necessary needs from the City of Boston to operate in this location. This should include programming ideas, previous efforts to provide these services, and supports needed. RFI submissions are due Monday, October 18 at 5:00 p.m. Following receipt and review of submissions, the City will release a Request for Proposals (RFP), to gather applications and subsequently select a partner that will expand health services in Hyde Park.