As Upstream Massachusetts wraps up 2019, we are reflecting on a year of partnership and progress. Our team has grown threefold, we have launched partnerships with 10 health agencies across the Commonwealth, and we conducted our first agency training at Duffy Health Center on Cape Cod.
As our work expands around the state, we are humbled by the dedication of so many champions supporting contraceptive access, and we are honored to be working alongside them. We are energized for the year ahead, and are grateful for your continued support. Happy Holidays!
Training Launch
On November 21st, Upstream Massachusetts held its first training with Duffy Health Center in Hyannis. Our team spent the day with Duffy’s clinicians and support staff, walking through exercises designed to improve clinical workflow, illustrate the impact of bias and coercion in reproductive health, and teach practitioners the skills they need to provide patients with the method of their choice.
At all levels, folks can walk away from this training with something. We have conversations about contraceptive care every day in our health center and now we have the structure [we need] to support those conversations.
– Margie Burke, Associate Director of Clinical Operations at Duffy Health Center
New Agency Partners
Upstream is honored to welcome Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and Family Health Center of Worcester as new agency partners.
Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts (PPLM) is a leader in providing and protecting sexual and reproductive health care and rights across the Commonwealth, and Upstream is honored to be a partner.
Beginning in 2020, the PPLM-Upstream partnership will include both clinical and field-building activities that support our deeply aligned missions. We are excited to learn from PPLM and their experience providing affordable, comprehensive, and patient-centered reproductive health care.
We are thrilled to build on Upstream’s strong historical partnership with Family Health Center of Worcester (FHCW). Our program has evolved since we began working with FHCW in 2014. We are now excited to expand our reach across the agency and ensure FHCW’s team and patients benefit from the evolution of our intervention.
Upstream Massachusetts now partners with 10 agencies across the Commonwealth. Contact mass@upstream.org to explore how your agency can work with Upstream Massachusetts to expand access to outstanding contraceptive care.
Meet Upstream Massachusett’s Council of Advisors
Upstream’s Massachusetts Council of Advisors consists of a group of distinguished leaders committed to our mission of improving reproductive health outcomes for patients across the Commonwealth. The Council offers Upstream Massachusetts invaluable guidance as we seek to expand our reach and strengthen ties to communities across the state. We are grateful for their support, and are honored to work alongside them.
Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts is delighted to partner with Upstream and help them advance their mission as they launch this ambitious health initiative in Massachusetts. I’m confident the Planned Parenthood-Upstream partnership will increase access to the full range of contraceptive methods and meet the reproductive health needs of more patients across the Commonwealth. I am so pleased to be a member of the advisory council as we collaborate on this important work.
Dr. Jennifer Childs-Roshak
President and CEO, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts
Council members, from top left to bottom right:
Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha – Associate Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine
Louis Brady – President & CEO, Family Health Center of Worcester
Dr. Jennifer Childs-Roshak – President & CEO, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts
Susan Dargon-Hart – Vice President of Clinical Health Affairs, Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers
Irvienne Goldson – Deputy Director of Health Services, Action for Boston Community Development
Lauren Peters – Undersecretary for Health Policy, Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services
Edward Sayer – CEO, Community Health Center of Franklin County
Susan West Levine – CEO, Lowell Community Health Center
