Busy start for North Canaan’s health center in opening year

NORTH CANAAN — Since opening last summer, the new federally qualified health center serving the Northwest Corner has treated more than 1,000 patients seeking help for medical and mental health issues.

“It’s been going great,” Joanne Borduas, CEO of Community Health & Wellness Center’s (CHWC) regional North Canaan facility, reported during a mid-December interview.

“We have seen 800 patients for medical and mental health services, and 426 kids through our school-based clinics. We are seeing what we anticipated, and probably then some.”

Strong demand prompted the hiring of several additional providers at the new health center, which is expected to be at full staffing level in early 2025 and will help broaden the facility’s capacity for scheduling.

A full-time family nurse practitioner is expected to start in mid-January, and CHWC has tapped Sarah Humphreys to take on the role of Chief Medical Officer, whose area of expertise includes infectious diseases.

Humphreys is expected to join the North Canaan health center in early March.

“We’re very excited to have her and to bring that specialty to the area. She grew up in the Salisbury area and left to practice medicine in New York, and is now coming home,” said Borduas.

The newest hires will bring staffing to 15 at the North Canaan health center, which was two decades in the making and was unveiled with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting attended by elected officials and key funders on May 10. The next day, CHWC hosted an open house to introduce the two-story, 7,300-square-foot regional center to the public. By the end of June, practitioners were seeing patients.

A ’great need’ for mental health services

It didn’t take long before the need became apparent, said the facility’s CEO.

“In the surrounding towns we have had a great lack of primary care physicians over time, which had led to individuals living with a high number of medical conditions, and there is clearly a great need for mental health services,” Borduas explained. “The acuity of illness in that area is tremendous.”

The Northwest Corner is home to an aging population, and Canaan, in particular, has a significant low-income population, said Borduas. Those factors, she noted, “contributed to what people could do for themselves.”

Responding to the need, she noted, “We did bring on an additional physician which was not part of the original plan.”

Dr. Deborah Buccino, a board-certified pediatrician, was hired to enhance addressing pediatric needs for the community at the North Canaan facility. Borduas noted that Buccino specializes in evaluating and treating children with autism, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), anxiety, depression and other learning and behavior concerns.

The FHC is on track with its mission to offer integrated medical and behavioral health services aimed at addressing the region’s dearth of health care providers, limited access to care and transportation challenges impacting both financially stable families and those less fortunate.

“We are not just the doctor’s office,” said Borduas. “Our mission is to be part of the community.” As a recent example, CHWC recently hosted a sold-out Christmas show at the historic Colonial Theatre.

Aided by community partners

Since its inception decades ago, the new health center has been aided by a coalition of community partners to address what Borduas describes as a “healthcare desert” in rural Northwest Connecticut.

Residents living in healthcare deserts may face inadequate access to primary, emergency, mental health, dental care and experience food insecurity.

Just recently, she said, the Northwest Corner’s largest employer, BD, awarded a $20,000 grant to the North Canaan health center.

“We are using the funds to address social determinants of health. We are going to use that grant money to purchase gift cards at Stop&Shop so we can give them to individuals experiencing food insecurity.”

Through the use of the BD grant, another local employer, Lindell Fuels, Inc., will assist CHWC with providing fuel to families who need help keeping their homes warm this winter.

“We will supplement the cost for Lindell through the use of the grant dollars,” said Borduas. “It really has been a tremendous, generous gift.”

For now, the health center’s goal is to take care of the community’s immediate needs, and in the early spring, CHWC plans to conduct an updated Community Needs Assessment.

It has become clear that there are still healthcare gaps in the rural Northwest Corner.

“We are trying to educate the community that we are not an emergency walk-in clinic and that we operate by appointment only,” said Borduas, who noted that even though people with urgent medical issues have not been turned away, that will not be possible to continue as the health center gets busier.

The closest urgent care center is in Torrington, she said, or for residents in the Sharon area, locations over the border in New York. The closest Emergency Rooms are at Sharon Hospital or Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington.

“That speaks to the need that continues to exist there.”

Borduas tapped for Governor’s Health Care Cabinet

Joanne Borduas, CEO of Community Health & Wellness Center (CHWC), has been appointed by Gov. Ned Lamont to the 38-member Health Care Cabinet (HCC) as a representative of community health centers across Connecticut.

Borduas will serve a four-year term ending in November 2028.

The HCC was created to advise the Governor and Lieutenant Governor alongside the Office of Health Reform & Innovation on health-related issues such as federal health reform implementation and development of an integrated healthcare system in Connecticut.

The nonprofit CHWC, which operates health centers in North Canaan, Winsted and Torrington, serves more than 7,000 patients and is the only Federally Qualified Healthcare Center (FQHC) in the Northwest Corner providing comprehensive services.

In making the announcement on Nov. 21, Lamont credited Borduas for her extensive experience working within the healthcare community in Connecticut.

“Her appointment to this group will provide valuable insight in our efforts to strengthen and improve our state’s healthcare system. I appreciate her willingness to serve as part of this cabinet.”

Borduas said she is honored by the appointment, and intends to be the voice for patients, staff and community health centers across the state in addressing the challenges faced in the health care industry.

“I’m looking forward to tackling challenges like the rural health care crisis, pharmaceutical pricing and Medicaid reimbursements.”

The cabinet, which meets bi-monthly, convenes working groups to make recommendations regarding the development and implementation of service delivery and healthcare provider repayment reforms including multi-payer initiatives, medical homes, electronic health records, pharmaceutical pricing and evidence-based healthcare quality improvement.

Cabinet members include government officials, leaders in medical practice, insurance, labor representatives, small business leaders, mental health and addiction services and public health.

Through this group, the committee will put forth recommendations to address key healthcare challenges through legislation, funding initiatives or restructuring of current efforts according to the 2024 HCC report.

The report also details various subcommittees devoted to issues like the rural health care crisis, mental health and the affordability and accessibility of urban health care.