Leaders from state interagency councils join in visit that included conversations with patients, clients and frontline staff
Roxbury, MA – Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray visited the historic campus of The Dimock Center for a tour that included Dimock’s Health Center, the Mary Eliza Mahoney House family shelter, Dimock’s Acute Treatment Services program, which houses a 30-bed inpatient detox program, and the John Flowers Recovery Home, a halfway house for men recovering from substance abuse.
Ruth Ellen Fitch, The Dimock Center’s President and CEO (pictured at left), and Ruth Kelley, Dimock’s Chief Behavioral Health Officer (pictured at right), led the tour, introducing the Lieutenant Governor to staff, patients and clients.
“I appreciated the opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue with patients, clients, and staff during my visit to The Dimock Center,” said Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray. “As we manage through these challenging economic times, strengthening our partnership with organizations like The Dimock Center is even more imperative to ensure we address the needs of the community.”
“We were honored to have the Lieutenant Governor visit Dimock and appreciate his obvious interest in the well-being of some of society’s neediest, the homeless and those struggling to recover from addiction,” said Ruth Ellen Fitch. “Support and coordination with the State is critical to our ability to provide quality care and innovative programs like the John Flowers Recovery Home, which offers hope and healing.”
In addition to the Lieutenant Governor, senior leaders from several state agencies toured The Dimock Center, including; Michael Botticelli, the Director of the Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, William Luzier, the Executive Director of the Interagency Council on Substance Abuse and Prevention, Elizabeth Curtis, the Executive Director of the Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness and Mayra Morales, the Boston Regional Director for the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services.
About the Dimock CenterThe Dimock Center was founded in 1862 as the New England Hospital for Women and Children and is now nationally recognized as a model for the integrated delivery of comprehensive health care and human services in an urban community. In 2009, The Dimock Center’s physicians and staff handled over 73,000 patient and client visits, providing Boston City residents and families access to high-quality health care and human services they might not be able to receive elsewhere. The center’s programs cover a range of services that include adult & pediatric medicine, eye & dental care, HIV/AIDS services, child & family development support programs, behavioral health and addiction recovery services and adult basic education.