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No Worries With Health Reminders

If you’re like most people, you have a lot going on. We’re making your life easier by helping you keep track of your health care appointments. Starting this month, CHA will be using a new system called Hello World to send health reminders for overdue appointments by text for:

• Diabetes visits
• High blood pressure (hypertension) visits
• Well child visits
• Annual physical (more than two years)

If you get a message, please contact us to schedule an appointment. Messages will be sent in English, Haitian Creole, Portuguese or Spanish, depending on your language preference in our records. 

These visits are important to your health (or the health of your child). While you can always opt out, we hope you find these reminders helpful as we work with you to keep you healthy.

Feeling sick?

You can now schedule a same-day or next-day Virtual Sick Visit through MyChart for certain symptoms. Just log into MyChart and click the Visits button. This will let you schedule a video appointment for things like cough, headache, COVID-19, back pain, vaginal itch or discharge, painful urination, and more. If you have a symptom not included on the self-booking list, please call your primary care office. You’ll be connected to our Nurse Advice Center who can help you get the care you need.

At the time of your video appointment, you’ll get a link by text and email. Just click on the link and log in using the camera on your phone or computer. Depending on your needs, we can provide medical advice, prescribe medicines, and set up a follow-up visit. Get the medical care you need from CHA without having to leave your home!

How are we doing?

Have you called your primary care center and spoken with the Nurse Advice Center? Tell us what it was like by filling out this survey. It only takes two minutes – and we’ll use your input to improve our service. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

It’s Good to See You

As we age, cataracts can make it hard to see. CHA has some of the most experienced eye surgeons in the Boston area with special expertise in cataract surgery, the most common surgery done in the US today. Get the care you need at our CHA Eye Centers in Somerville and Malden.

Meet our Chief of Ophthalmology, Dr. Vincent Patalano, an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School who has been with CHA for over 30 years.

WIC keeps Children and Families Healthy

WIC is a FREE nutrition program that helps families (including dads) with children under five get healthy food and learn how to eat well. It also supports pregnant women, infants and new moms. WIC stands for Women, Infants and Children and is FREE to Massachusetts families who qualify. We have a new location in Somerville! Call us at 617-575-5330 to see if we can help you.

The WIC program provides:

• Healthy foods for pregnant people, infants, and children
• Counseling with trained nutritionists
• Health education
• Breastfeeding support and counseling
• Referrals to health care and social services
• Workshops
• Online nutrition education



Leading the Way in Oral Health

With over 7,500 immigrants living in temporary shelters across Massachusetts, the health needs of our communities continue to grow. These newly arrived residents faced unimaginable challenges coming here and many have serious oral health needs. CHA dentist, Alec Eidelman, DMD, and a team of providers responded.

Dr. Eidelman has done extensive research on community needs, and recently worked with shelter staff and other providers to organize an oral health clinic in Everett. The clinic, a direct response to racial and ethnic disparities in access to care, treated 15 immigrant families in January. “This was the first of what I hope will be many such clinics,” said Dr. Eidelman. “It’s exciting to build trust with the community and get people connected to the care they need.”

Photo credit: Kathleen Refior, Harvard School of Dental Medicine