Important Announcements

Campus Construction Update

The Menino building lobby entrance is currently closed. This, along with the ongoing Yawkey building entrance closure, will help us bring you an even better campus experience that matches the exceptional care you've come to expect. Please enter the Menino and Yawkey buildings through the Moakley building, and make sure to leave extra time to get to your appointment. Thank you for your patience. 

Click here to learn more about our campus redesign. 

Nondiscrimination Policy Update

Boston Medical Center Health System complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, national origin (including limited English proficiency and primary language), religion, culture, physical or mental disabilities, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity and/or expression. BMCHS provides free aids and services to people with disabilities and free language services to people whose primary language is not English.

To read our full Nondiscrimination Statement, click here.
 

 

Extreme close-up of a baby holding mother's finger on white surface

Economic services directly improve children's environments and can also improve parent wellbeing, which helps children thrive. However, many families miss out on the economic wellbeing services that can help them build assets, because systems are designed to exclude them. 

Our mission is to build economic mobility and health equity by leveraging trust in and access to healthcare. 

We are redesigning pediatric primary care – which reaches 90 percent of children each year — to include economic wellbeing services. This holds huge potential to break down barriers and improve health equity.

What We Do

Newborns and young children have many clinic visits – at least seven in the first year of life. These visits help build trust in and comfort with the healthcare system, which can be leveraged to help with other needs.

We use this time to help break down economic barriers for low-income families, particularly those who identify as people of color, by embedding assistance with economic resources into pediatric primary care, including:

  • Financial coaching
  • Tax preparation
  • An economic bundle that includes access to Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a 529 College Savings Plan, Family Self-Sufficiency Program, access to BMC’s Food Pantry, and Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML)

Services are offered proactively to all newborn families in our clinic, to reduce barriers and provide broader access.

Pediatric Primary Care Clinic - Yawkey 6

Why We Do It

Forty percent of children in the United States are low-income, which negatively affects children’s brains, learning, and health into adulthood. Our approach helps families grow assets by increasing savings, decreasing debt, and improving credit and economic opportunity while building a solid foundation for lifelong financial, physical, and mental health.