Like the wet shelter and the secret program to find housing for high risk inmates like arsonists and sex offenders, the Great Brook Valley Health's proposed free clinic is bad for Framingham. Here are ten reasons why:
 Great Brook valley has refused to pay the town PILOT funds, despite having millions of dollars to pay for building an underground parking garage. With a multimillion dollar deficit, Framingham can no longer afford to generously throw away tax dollars.  |
Wrong place: Framingham is already suffering from an overconcentration of social services in town -- several times more per capita than any other town in the area. This clinic should be built in another town, rather than further burdening Framingham with even more social services. (See map below.)
Loss of Tax Revenue: This health clinic will be serving 25 other communities besides Framingham and will be a tax-exempt entity from which Framingham will receive nothing: claiming poverty, GBVH has refused to pay the town PILOT funds, despite having millions of dollars to pay for building an underground parking garage. With a multimillion dollar deficit, Framingham can no longer afford to generously throw away tax dollars.
Redundancy: When the hospital changed their status from nonprofit to for profit, they entered into an agreement with the town of Framingham that to provide a health clinic in the "medically underserved" downtown area. The Metrowest Medical Center's health clinic is now located within the hospital on Lincoln Street. Why do we need a second health clinic in Framingham? In fact, this clinic is not designed to provide services to the "medically underserved" in Framingham, but to attract clients from a 25 town area to Framingham for service! Why don't other towns in the region provide service for their "medically underserved" instead of sending them to Framingham?
Crime: They wouldn't tell the Planning Board, but Great Brook Valley already has a clinic at MCI Framingham. Why was this information never revealed? Perhaps because GBVH was concerned about the implications? Especially after the revelation the SMOC also has a contract with the Department of Corrections, Framingham needs to be extremely careful in dealing with these service providers.
Parking and traffic: The proposed site is about 80 spaces short of what is required by the town. Parking is already a major issue for the tax-paying businesses in the downtown area and many of these business owners signed a petition and sent letters decrying this fact. Some of these same business owners are so fed up there is talk of leaving the downtown. The locksmith on Rte. 135 already moved, noting that the lack of parking was affecting his business. The location of this proposed clinic is yards away from the intersection of Routes 126 and 135, a major bottleneck in downtown Framingham. The traffic issues with this intersection have plagued Framingham and the tax-paying businesses for years. Another study has been commissioned for this problematic intersection. Before it is even complete, Great Brook Valley will be be worsening the problem by attracting clients from a 25 town area.
Collaboration with social services: The Great Brook Valley Health Center that is currently downtown at Concord Street has been collaborating with SMOC to service their “behavioral health services” clients and provides weekly checkups at the "Common Ground" shelter (the wet shelter). That is really what this clinic is all about -- not the hard-working but underinsured residents of downtown Framingham.
From Dennison Luxury Condos to the Train Station |
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The proposed health clinic (4) is almost directly between the Salvation Army (2) and the SMOC wet shelter (3). Who do you suppose will be its clients? To get from the new luxury condos at Dennison (1) to the train station (5), you would have to walk past the Salvation Army and through the heart of the center of violent crime in Framingham. Doesn't it make sense to address the crime problem downtown before trying to sink money into revitalization projects? How much worse off will we be if the luxury condos fail? Source: Framingham Police Department |
Downtown Revitalization: Placement of a nonprofit health clinic serving poor medically underserved people from 25 communities is not going to provide any economic stimulus for downtown Framingham. How does this coincide with plans to revitalize downtown? Quite the opposite, it would appear: with the protest of numerous businesses in the area to the health clinic proposal, it is clear that this will hurt business in Framingham, not help it. How will increasing the social service concentration in Framingham help sales of luxury condominiums? How will it help the Arcade project succeed? It won't -- quite the opposite. Just look at the map (right): the key selling point of the luxury condos is that they are walking distance from the train station. But to do this, residents will have to walk right through Framingham's worse violent crime area! How will a clinic serving the wet shelter help this problem?
Wrong population: The Great Brook Valley Health Center is not being completely forthright about who the clinic will be serving. The proposed clinic will accept CenterCare, a health care program for low-income uninsured residents of Massachusetts. Unlike Mass Health Insurance, CenterCare welcomes "undocumented noncitizens," and does not even ask for a Social Security number. Since the proposed clinic will have a service area of 25 towns, it will attract people from throughout the region to Framingham. This is exacerbated by the fact that users can only enroll in CenterCare at only one community health center at a time, meaning that these users will be not only attracted to Framingham, but locked in to the clinic here as their primary source of care. Compare this to Mass Health, which is usable at many private medical practices. Where is the respect for the hard working but low income residents of downtown Framingham?
Wrong motives: The proposed health center is not being developed for people who happens to be in between jobs, are just out of college, are underemployed, or are low-income legal residents. These people and their families are eligible for Mass Health Insurance, which can be used at many private medical offices. No, this clinic will service social service clients (such as wet shelter residents), MCI inmates, and illegal immigrants. Despite their nonprofit legal status, Great Brook Valley is opening this clinic for profit: by filling in a "gap" in their coverage area, GBVH stands to win many contract and grant opportunities. Framingham is a "hub" for the Refugee Health Assessment Provider network:
Metro Boston: International Clinic at Boston Medical Center, MGH Chelsea Health Center, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Brighton
Whittier Street Health Center, Roxbury
Southeast: Brockton Neighborhood Health Center
North Shore: Lynn Community Health Center
Merrimack Valley: Lowell Community Health Center
Central: Great Brook Valley Health Center, Framingham
Great Brook Valley Health Center, Worcester
West: Caring Health Center, Springfield
Wrong time: The GBVH clinic is being proposed at a time that Framingham is finally coming to grips with the extent and growth rate of the social service agency in town. On January 15, the Boston Globe reported that the number of properties owned by social service agencies in Framingham has risen nearly tenfold, from 26 in 1990 to about 240 today. Framingham already has more social service facilities per capita than any other town in the region. We don't need more.
Great Brook Valley Clinic Unnecessary and Counterproductive
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