Community Care Partners

06/27/2025

🌡️ Heat + Certain Medications = High Risk 💊☀️
Summer heat can silently increase medical risk—especially for people on medications that impair the body’s ability to cool down.
Many of these meds are prescribed for common conditions:

🧠 Mental Health
Antidepressants (e.g., SSRIs, SNRIs)
Antipsychotics (e.g., for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder)
Mood stabilizers (e.g., lithium)
→ Risk: Reduced sweat production, heat intolerance, altered thermoregulation

🫀 Heart and Blood Pressure
Beta-blockers
Diuretics (for heart failure, hypertension)
→ Risk: Dehydration, slower heart rate, impaired circulation response

🌿 ADHD & Neurological Conditions
Stimulants (e.g., Adderall, Ritalin)
Anticholinergics (used for Parkinson’s, bladder conditions)
→ Risk: Overheating, confusion, reduced thirst perception

💡 Tips for Support & Safety
Check in on clients, neighbors, and elders
Encourage hydration and shade
Know which meds increase risk
Adjust routines to avoid mid-day exposure
Coordinate with providers proactively
This is especially vital for care coordinators, community health workers, and social workers on the front lines.

☀️ Don’t underestimate how climate + medication = public health challenge.
Let’s spread awareness and protect our most vulnerable.

06/06/2025

🩺 Bay Cove Nurses: The Heartbeat of Community Care 💙
This week, our affiliate partner Bay Cove Human Services honored the incredible nurses who serve on the front lines of care—from shelters and residential programs to community outreach.

At Community Care Partners, we’re proud to work alongside these compassionate professionals who fill the gaps so many systems leave behind. Their commitment, courage, and clinical excellence make all the difference for the members we support together.

CEO Kevin Martone joined Bay Cove’s Nurses Appreciation Event to celebrate these everyday heroes—and we’re cheering right alongside them.

✨ To every Bay Cove nurse:
Your care saves lives. We see you. We thank you.

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06/06/2025

🌟 Community Impact Starts with Strong Clinical Teams 🌟
At Community Care Partners, we know how vital clinical professionals are to making behavioral health and long-term services truly work for communities. That’s why we’re proud to spotlight opportunities with our affiliate partner Vinfen, a leader in compassionate, community-based care.

📍 Now Hiring Across the Greater Lowell & Northeast MA Region

Whether you're just starting out or bringing years of experience, Vinfen is building a team that prioritizes relationship-driven care, equity, and innovation in service delivery.

🗓️ Check out Vinfen’s upcoming Job Fair on June 4 – an opportunity to connect, learn more, and find your place in this meaningful work.

🔗 Details + Registration: https://bit.ly/43aO19H

If you’re not currently job searching but know someone who is:
🔁 Share the love. Share the link. Help build the future of care.

🔘 Looking for a new clinical role?
🔘 Interested in working in the Greater Lowell/Northeast region?
🔘 Driven to make a difference in a community near you?
✅ Our job fair on June 4 the place to be!

Find more details and sign up to join us here: https://bit.ly/43aO19H

If this isn’t a fit for you, but you know a clinician looking for opportunities:
💬 spread the word! 💬

06/04/2025

🎉 Congratulations to our partners at Vinfen! 🎉

We’re thrilled to celebrate the opening of your new ACCS Supported Independent Environment on Andover Street in Lowell! This 19-unit residence is a powerful step forward for individuals transitioning from group living to greater independence—and a testament to Vinfen’s ongoing commitment to dignity, recovery, and community.

Thank you for the work you do to create safe, supportive, and empowering spaces for adults with complex needs. We’re proud to partner with you in building a more person-centered behavioral health system.

👏 Here's to more milestones—and more backyard barbecues!
Read more in The VOICE: https://bit.ly/4jCQ1fZ

06/04/2025

🧡 Excellence in Care🧡 Care Coordinator Spotlight: Bonnie Purtee, RN

We’re thrilled to recognize Bonnie Purtee, RN, one of our outstanding Care Coordinators, who recently received glowing feedback through a Mass General Brigham ACO Member Satisfaction Survey:

“Bonnie is absolutely amazing. She goes above and beyond. I would definitely recommend her to anybody.”

🌟 The member gave Bonnie a 10 out of 10—a powerful reminder of the impact strong, compassionate care coordination has on people’s lives.

At Community Care Partners, we’re proud to operate an integrated Behavioral Health and LTSS Community Partner program, supporting 6,500+ MassHealth members from Lawrence, Lowell, the Cape, and beyond through 10 care teams rooted in community connection.
Bonnie, thank you for your excellence, empathy, and commitment to whole-person care.
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06/04/2025

🎉 Incredible news from our partners at Mystic Valley Elder Services! 🎉

We’re thrilled to celebrate MVES on receiving a $300,000 grant from the Cummings Foundation to support their Wellness Nurse Program—a powerful initiative that brings expert, compassionate care directly into the community.

This investment is a win for older adults, people with disabilities, and everyone who believes in equitable, community-based care. We are honored to partner with such a committed, mission-driven organization. Congratulations, MVES—you continue to lead with heart and impact! 💙

Why is this group so happy? just heard, we’ve earned a from the ! The award is $300,000 over 10 years. The fund will support our Wellness Nurse Program, which brings our nurses on-site to locations in the community. Members of the MVES team are pictured here celebrating alongside residents at a building where our program is active. Thank you to the for investing in the health of and in our community!

05/30/2025

As draws to a close, we reflect on how vital community-based behavioral health programs and services are to CCP members with mental health conditions. Our BHCP program serves about 4500 members across Eastern Mass. CP care teams regularly support BH members with connection to and utilization of behavioral health services, including Community Based Health Centers. are an integral component of the mental health and substance use treatment continuum of care. During a recent MassHealth site visit, CCP presented on the successful collaboration that both our South CP team and Bay Cove Human Services’s Cape CBHC have forged over the past couple of years. This partnership is rooted in the following best practices:

📅 Regularly Scheduled Meetings to Review:​
⭐ Shared/potential members ​
⭐ Hard-to-engage cases
⭐ Missed appointments

📞 Care Team Meetings:
- Vinfen South CP team participates in regular Care Team Meetings with CBHC providers as needed

💁 Member participation in CTMs:
- Members are encouraged to participate or share feedback in CTMs

👫 Collaboration over prospective members:
- Both parties refer mutually to the other program and streamline workflows

Mental health outcomes are improved significantly through integrated, community-based approaches where the member is an active participant in their care. CP teams help drive these types of partnerships every day not only to support members in addressing clinical concerns, but also to address their needs and bridge gaps in access to resources.

05/02/2025

💔 In times like these—when our most vulnerable neighbors are feeling the weight of uncertainty and risk—we must come together to protect what matters most: dignity, access, and care.
Proposed Medicaid funding cuts threaten the health, independence, and everyday lives of millions of people with disabilities. These aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet—these are people, families, and futures.
📢 Join the next Beyond 2025 Critical Conversation:
Proposed Medicaid Funding Cuts and the Harms They Pose to People with Disabilities
🗓 Wednesday, May 21
🕒 3:00–4:00 PM ET
📍 Register on Zoom
🔗 https://events.zoom.us/ev/Anw27KaG06Du8qxOv9bdTu3y1ELotRtMzmO6Hg1UuNAVkz-B1YGx~AujP-JE1-mjJOknv_vRTttH4-Yk6-9Wm3OoxBSAPr0alZ5bq2ylgjgB0Zw

Learn what’s at stake—and how we can take action—with Meg Comeau and Dr. Tami Gouveia from the Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health.

Let’s show up, stay informed, and stand in solidarity.

04/25/2025

On April 17th, Community Care Partners welcomed a multitude of stakeholders from MassHealth to a site visit at 66 Canal Street in Boston. This robust half-day event showcased CCP's commitment to and expertise serving both the MassHealth ACO and DMH ACCS populations across all 10 of our Community Partner teams. Featured in the attached photos are Hannah Conley - CCP Program Director, Kevin Martone - Bay Cove CEO, Kim Shellenberger - Vinfen Chief Strategy Officer, as well as a snapshot of the many presenters who joined us from across our Member Organizations. Shout out to our dedicated staff for making this event a great success! Thank you Bay Cove Human Services, Vinfen, Mystic Valley Elder Services and Justice Resource Institute

04/14/2025

Hannah Conley is not just the Program Director for Community Care Partners. She is a longtime runner who will be completing her 5th--yes 5th!--Boston Marathon on April 21st, 2025! Hannah is running to raise money for Bay Cove Human Services, a nonprofit organization in Massachusetts that provides critical supports to individuals and families so they may overcome developmental, mental health, substance use, and housing and homelessness challenges. Please help Hannah reach her fundraising goal here: https://www.givengain.com/project/hannah-raising-funds-for-bay-cove-human-services-93261?fbclid=IwY2xjawJqDhlleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHk6RnNBRefNgVLJfngQjCUFNQe2-8Np83dNLu8B22I8tqxUiC0lHDWZ5UoR-_aem_lSn9OteGuFECn28V_gphJA GO HANNAH!!!

04/04/2025

Not only do we welcome Spring in April, but it is also ! At CCP, we serve many young CP members from the autism community in our LTSS program. Every day, care coordinators partner with members and families to ensure individuals with autism receive the in-home, academic, social, and medical supports they need to live well and reach their goals.

03/22/2025

About a year ago, doula care became a covered service for eligible pregnant mothers with MassHealth. At CCP, we celebrated this service offering given the impact it could have on our pregnant CP members. There are now 200 doulas in Massachusetts providing valuable, culturally competent non-medical support to members and families during pregnancy, delivery, and after delivery! To learn more, visit http://mass.gov/masshealthdoulas