Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program
BHCHP was created in 1985 to provide high-quality health care services to homeless people in Greater Boston. It is recognized as the most innovative and successful program of its type in the country. It now operates in 45 different sites, and sends its van out every night on the streets of Boston. It has admitting privileges at the Boston Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital. It also operates a respite care facility for homeless persons in transition from inpatient hospital care. Recently, it successfully passed $32 million in its capital campaign, which will finance the renovation of the Mallory Building in Boston, to provide clinical and respite services for the homeless, as well as a new home for its administrative offices.
R&R became BHCHP’s general counsel in 1996. We have provided constant advice on all phases of BHCHP’s operations, including patients’ rights, employment issues, real estate, governance and every unique twist imaginable.
Commonwealth Care Alliance
Although CCA began operations in 2003, R&R’s legal representation of CCA and its prototypes and predecessors dates back to 1996. The visionary Chief Executive Officer of CCA is Dr. Robert Master, who for his entire career, dating back to the early 1970’s, has been dedicated to providing innovative systems of care to those most involved with the health care system – frail elderly patients and people with serious chronic conditions. R&R began representing Dr. Master in these efforts in 1996, at which time it helped him transfer his predecessor to CCA – Community Medical Alliance – to Neighborhood Health Plan (NHP), the private HMO serving Medicaid clients. Community Medical Alliance (CMA) was, and is, a specialty HMO for the severely disabled receiving Medicaid benefits.
Commonwealth Care Alliance has built on Dr. Master’s unrivaled experience in creating effective financing systems for people with chronic conditions, to the point where it is recognized today as the leading nonprofit company using Medicare and Medicaid dollars to improve the health status of its members, principally by providing a team of doctors, nurse practitioners and others to assist and monitor and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.
R&R helped create Commonwealth Care Alliance, designed its corporate structure, its by-laws and its initial governance design. R&R continues to advice CCA today, principally on the development of strategic partnerships necessary to the growth of its membership.