Mashpee – Community Health Center of Cape Cod is one of 10 community health centers to have been selected to participate in the inaugural cohort of the GE Foundation-funded SUSTAIN Communities (Substance Use Support & Technical Assistance In Communities) initiative. With additional assistance from Partners HealthCare, the ten health centers will receive customized coaching, training and support to build capacity for the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders in their communities.

The awardees are: Boston Health Care for the Homeless, Brockton Neighborhood Health Center, Caring Health Center, Codman Square Health Center, Community Health Center of Cape Cod, DotHouse Health, East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, Lowell Community Health Center, Mattapan Community Health Center and South End Community Health Center.

The Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers will manage the program, which will include executive coaching on change management, on-site peer mentoring for addiction services and case-based team learning sessions. Furthermore, participating health centers will receive a $50,000 stipend for multi-disciplinary care teams to commit time to this initiative.

Community Health Center of Cape Cod believes everyone deserves accessible, affordable, high-quality care and is committed to expanding medical and behavioral health services for substance use disorder prevention and treatment. CHC of Cape Cod plans to expand access to care for at least 900 individuals over the next two years. It also aims to implement a Structured Outpatient Addictions Program (SOAP) to strengthen integration with behavioral health services and to expand its scope beyond substance abuse to overall pain and addictions management.