Home - Dorchester House Multi-Service Center

Celebrating “The Doctor Will See You NOW!” Project

Dorchester House celebrated the completion of “The Doctor Will See You NOW” project with a ribbon cutting ceremony on May 7th. Joining CEO Joel Abrams in speaking at the festivities were Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, State Senator Jack Hart, City Councillor Frank Baker, and Boston Public Health Commission Executive Director Barbara Ferrer. About 100 people attended the event.

The NOW! Project embodies the Dot House attitude that patients should receive the care they want, when they want it. By expanding Primary Care and creating a new Walk-In/Urgent Care clinic, we created access for 6,600 new patients and 26,000 more patient visits per year.

Click the links for coverage of the event:
Boston.com: “Dorchester House Multi-Service Center Completes Expansion”
Dorchester Reporter: “Dot House Celebrates New Expanded Services”
BNN News (video): “Expansion Completed at Health Center in Dorchester”

Pictured cutting the ribbon, from left to right: City Councillor Felix Arroyo, BPHC Executive Director Barbara Ferrer, CEO Joel Abrams, Mayor Thomas Menino, Senator Jack Hart, City Councillor Frank Baker.

An excerpt from a letter by DotWell’s Director of Community Programs, Tom Powers:

“It has been a pleasure for us to offer pool services to the Dorchester community for more than thirty years. As we seek to continue to make the pool available to the community we have done our best to maintain a low rate for patrons in spite of rising expenses. Effective April 2, 2012, we implemented new fees as outlined in the attached fee schedule with modest increases across the range of membership options.

“We will continue to offer a range of membership choices including youth, senior, adult and family aswell as a 6-month or 12-month membership option. To ensure that everyone can take advantage of the pool, our community swim rates are as low as $1 per child, $1 per senior and $3 per adult.”

- Youth and adult swim lessons
- Water safety training for youth ages 14 to 20
- Kids with Asthma Can Swim program, featuring health workshops and lessons
- Healthy Weight for Life Clinic, in collaboration with nutritionists and pediatricians

The Dorchester House pool is also home to the DotWell Stingrays Swim Team. These youngsters work hard and honor the community with
continued success.

“Dr. Huy Nguyen recently joined the BPHC staff as Boston’s newest medical director. As part of national Public Health Awareness week, I got to sit down and talk with him a little bit about his background, what he looks forward to working on at the Commission, and his favorite things to do outside the office.”

Read the rest of the blog post about Dot House pediatrician Huy Nguyen by clicking here.

Thank you for your patience while we reworked the logistics for the Dorchester House Food Pantry. We were able to create a more effective and sustainable model to serve the people in our neighborhood. The pantry will be open:

- Tuesdays, 11:00a.m. – 12:00p.m. (seniors and clients with a disability, only)
- Wednesdays, 8:00 – 10:00a.m.

The following guidelines have been instituted to help us continue to provide this vital service:

1. The pantry will serve residents of Dorchester and Mattapan only.
2. On their first visit after we re-open, every client must bring ID and piece of business mail such as a utility bill, telephone bill or lease showing your Dorchester or Mattapan address to receive a monthly food pantry access card.
3. Participants can come in to pick up emergency food bags once a month.
4. All clients will need to re-enroll by completing a Food Pantry Intake Form with Food Pantry staff.
5. Patients of the Dorchester House who live outside of Dorchester or Mattapan will need to bring an Emergency Food Pantry Referral Form signed by a Dorchester House provider/nurse/case manager for a one time use, only. Patients will then be referred to the Food Source Hotline to access a pantry in their city/town.

Thank you again for your patience this past month, and we look forward to meeting your food security needs!

For a printable document with the new hours and eligibility requirements, click here.

-Support in a nurturing community
-Resources like SNAP benefits & Cradles to Crayons
-Breastfeeding Support
-Education about parenting and take-home materials
-Healthy Snacks and lots of FUN!!!

* Attend 7 sessions to receive a free Target gift card AND be entered into a raffle to win the grand prize! *

From her first experience as an eight-year old with a toothache, Dr. Trang Nguyen developed an interest in her future career when her dentist helped the pain go away. Emigrating to Dorchester from Vietnam at the age of 18, Dr. Nguyen found a dentist and a mentor in former Dot House Dental Director Mark Doherty. Now she takes over the role he once had — read the rest of Trang’s story here!

Dr. Huy Nguyen was featured in a story on Channel 5 last evening – Better Living with Liz Walker on WCVB. Congrats to Dr. Nguyen — the new Medical Director at the Boston Public Health Commission, and thank you to Ms. Walker for covering it!

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