NeighborHealth Expands Innovative Patient-Centered Care with New Clinical Space in East Boston

NeighborHealth’s Adult Medicine celebrates the opening of 18 new exam rooms at 20 Maverick Square

 

BOSTON, MA (October 20, 2025) – Saúde do Vizinho, marked the opening of its newly renovated clinical space in East Boston’s Maverick Square with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, October 16. This primary care expansion adds 18 new exam rooms, patient waiting areas, lab and collaborative workspace that supports Adult Medicine, the health system’s fastest growing department—all designed to support NeighborHealth’s patient-centered, team-based care model.

The bright new space, which opened in April, prioritizes innovation, collaboration, and accessibility, bringing together providers, nurses, clinical pharmacists, behavioral health specialists, and patient support staff to provide holistic, coordinated care to patients. By embedding interdisciplinary collaboration into the physical design, NeighborHealth is advancing a model of primary care that responds to the complex and evolving needs of today’s patients, all while increasing access to care. With the opening, NeighborHealth has hired more than a dozen new clinical team members and seen more than 3,000 new patients.

“Adult Medicine is where we are seeing the greatest demand, and this new space allows us to welcome more patients while maintaining the quality and continuity of care that our community counts on,” said Marianne Graham, Clinical Director of Adult Medicine at NeighborHealth. “The patient-centered design makes it easier for our interdisciplinary team of clinicians to provide wrap-around care, ensuring those who both provide and receive care feel connected and supported.”

“When providers and care teams work side-by-side, patients benefit from faster, more comprehensive primary care,” said Julio Mazul, MD, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at NeighborHealth. “This collaborative approach allows us to expand access to preventative healthcare while ensuring that every patient has an experience that is thorough, personal, and responsive to their needs.”

“This expansion represents a step forward in how we care for our community,” said Jamie Hazard, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of NeighborHealth. “It is not only about adding more space, but about reimagining that space so that every design choice supports a welcoming patient experience and empowers our care teams to work together more effectively.”

The opening event brought together NeighborHealth staff, providers and patients alongside community partners and state and federal officials whose support has made the expansion possible. The major construction project was funded through $5.5 million in state and federal funding, $4.5 million of which was appropriated by Congress in fiscal year 2022 following requests by Senator Ed Markey and Senator Elizabeth Warren through the Congressionally Directed Spending process.  In parallel, the Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) funded $1 million through the Community Health Center Capital Investment Grant Program.

Senator Ed Markey shared words of support through a video message at the ceremony.

“Today’s ribbon cutting affirms how our community health centers remain resilient, vibrant and forward looking even in times of great challenge. I’m grateful to the NeighborHealth team, to the Healey-Driscoll administration, to state and local officials, to East Boston, Chelsea and our private partners for their collaboration in making this dream a reality,” said Senator Markey. “This project is a prime example of the type of project the federal government can and should support, expanding healthcare to some of our most vulnerable residents. It demonstrates how health care professionals and partners at all levels of government can come together to advance locally run, patient centered public health initiatives that nurture and sustain a community every day.”

In partnership with Wise Construction, a leading healthcare builder in the Greater Boston area, NeighborHealth began converting East Boston administrative offices to patient care space in summer 2024. Both NeighborHealth and Wise were committed to a community-first approach when building the project workforce. In partnership with design firm isgenuity, the collaboration produced a stunning clinical space grounded in safety, inclusion, and long-term impact. Completed in April 2025, the new primary care space began serving as an additional home to Adult Medicine patients, complementing the health center’s other primary care locations in East Boston, Winthrop and Boston’s South End.

CONTATO COM A MÍDIA:

Justino Augusto

jauguste@thecastlegrp.com

617.337.9509

 

Sobre NeighborHealth

O NeighborHealth, anteriormente East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, é um dos maiores Centros de Saúde Federalmente Qualificados (FQHCs) do país e o maior sistema de saúde de atenção primária baseado na comunidade em Massachusetts, atendendo mais de 120.000 pessoas e reconhecido pela Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) como um Líder Nacional de Qualidade. Por mais de 50 anos, o NeighborHealth ofereceu acesso a cuidados primários abrangentes, cuidados especializados e cuidados de emergência para pacientes na Comunidade. Em uma fusão inédita em 2020, o East Boston Neighborhood Health Center uniu forças com o South End Community Health Center e expandiu os serviços para pacientes que vivem e trabalham nos bairros South End e Roxbury de Boston. Com quase 2.000 funcionários, o NeighborHealth defende modelos de atendimento inovadores para preencher ativamente as lacunas de equidade em saúde em nossas comunidades de baixa renda e imigrantes com serviços exclusivos de outros provedores de saúde em nosso estado. Para obter mais informações, visite www.neighborhealth.com.

 

NeighborHealth Adult Medicine leaders Dr. Catherine Silva, Marianne Grenham and Kelly Hennessy are joined by NeighborHealth leadership, Board members, state officials, Wise Construction and isgenuity team members to cut the ribbon for newly renovated clinical space in East Boston.

 

(From left to right) Francisca Tavares, Medical Assistant; Ashley Altmann, NP; and Maria Kirk, Medical Secretary celebrate the new space.

 

Associate Medical Director Kelly Hennessy shows off one of the 18 new exam rooms to NeighborHealth Board of Directors and MassLeague of Community Health Centers staff.

 

Adult Medicine team members Nikolai Velev, MD; Juan Huanuco, MD; Marianne Grenham, Senior Director Adult Medicine; Jaime Gallegos, MD; and Jeff Comfort, Operations Manager, pose in the waiting area of the newly renovated clinical space in East Boston.