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Built in 1971, our current facility is in dire need of renovation. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has approved the Determination of Need we submitted in 2003 for $12.3 million dollars worth of renovations. Renovation will involve the entire facility and will include: more functionally appropriate space for residents; upgrading/ adding better equipped nurses’ stations; upgrading the HVAC, elevator, and fire alarm systems; increasing dining and sitting room space; and increasing the space for occupational and physical therapy. The modernization of the Center will meet the Massachusetts Department of Public Health standards for long-term care facilities and will comply with the architectural requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA ’87) Standards of Construction.

Beginning in 2004, the Benjamin Healthcare Center’s Board of Directors launched a capital campaign with the goal of raising $2.5 million dollars by December 31, 2008. Specifically, this $2.5 million will: (1) cover building renovation costs not reimbursed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; (2) generate program revenue for our training program for nursing assistants; (3) initiate technology upgrades to facilitate patient data management; and (4) support the development of an Adult Day Center facility within the newly renovated Center.

Saving the Edgar P. Benjamin Healthcare Center by supporting its modernization is especially important today. In the last five years, funding cuts in Medicare and Medicaid have forced the closing of 103 nursing homes in the Commonwealth. In 2001 alone, 13% of the nursing homes in the Commonwealth filed for bankruptcy and 51% reported financial losses. Benjamin Healthcare has an outstanding record of keeping operating costs in line with available funding. Your financial contribution to our Capital Campaign is critical as we work diligently to provide for the ongoing needs of the most vulnerable members of our community.

 

 

WHO WE SERVE

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The Edgar P. Benjamin Healthcare Center is a 205-bed sub acute, skilled nursing, rehabilitation, and long-term care facility. The clinical staff includes physicians, nurses, rehabilitation therapists, nutritionists, psychosocial specialists, and medical consultants who are specially trained and experienced in caring for the elderly, frail, and disabled. These skilled professionals create a comprehensive treatment approach to meet the complex medical and/or rehabilitative needs of each individual patient and resident.

Residents include elderly, frail, retired, disabled, Alzheimer's and HIV/AIDS patients, as well as individuals requiring rehabilitative care, dialysis, sub acute and long-term care. Our current residents include 88 men and 102 women, representing a diversity of ethnicity: African-American (50%), Caucasian (40%), Hispanic (8%), Native-American (1%), and Asian (1%). While more than half of our residents are over 50 years old, 45% are 50 years and younger. 87% of our patients/residents are low-income and receive Medicaid benefits. We serve the Roxbury, West Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, and Milton communities. Patients are referred to Benjamin Healthcare from leading Boston-area hospitals, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Medical Center, New England Medical Center, Jewish Memorial Hospital, and Shattuck Hospital.

 

 

QUALITY NURSING CARE

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The Edgar P. Benjamin Healthcare Center, a preeminent provider of quality nursing home services to the low-income elderly and disabled, is the largest minority-operated nonprofit nursing facility in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Located on Mission Hill in Boston, Benjamin Healthcare was founded in 1927 by Edgar P. Benjamin, a distinguished African-American attorney who established the tradition of excellence that continues to this day. Benjamin Healthcare was ranked as one of the two best nursing homes in Massachusetts in November 2002 by the U.S. Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In 1999, the U.S. Department of Health and Social Services placed Benjamin Healthcare in the top 15% of nursing facilities in the United States.

You can help the Benjamin Healthcare Center reach its goal by supporting our ongoing fundraising efforts. Your financial contributions to our Capital Fundraising Campaign are critical as we work diligently to provide for the ongoing needs of the most vulnerable members of our community.

 

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