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2014 Kraft Center Symposium Celebrates Next Generation of Health Center Leaders

Pictured (left to right): James W. Hunt, Jr., Dr. Paul Farmer, William Walczak

6-13-14 Feature Story:

Boston -- The Kraft Center for Community Health held its 2014 Symposium Friday, March 13 to highlight the accomplishments of the Center's first graduating class of 15 community health center physicians and three nurse practitioners.

The symposium featured a keynote address by Paul Farmer, MD, PhD and founder of Partners In Health, as well as remarks from Robert K. Kraft, New England Patriots owner and the major philanthropic supporter of the Kraft Center, Gary Gottlieb, the President and CEO of Partners HealthCare and James W. Hunt, Jr., President and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers.

Focused on the first-hand accounts of Kraft Center participants during their two years with the Kraft Center, the event included both project presentations and a discussion panel comprised of Kraft Center graduates and their community health center patients which explored the theme of "partnership and empowerment" as part of the Kraft Center experience.

The event also served to introduce leaders from academic medicine, health care policy, and related disciplines to the Kraft Center's mission and impact, and to the work of community health in improving health outcomes for vulnerable patients.

"We are very grateful for the Kraft family's recognition of the role health centers play in ensuring health equity across the Commonwealth's communities," said James W. Hunt, Jr., President and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers. “The Kraft Center brings tremendous resources and visibility to the challenges faced by health centers in expanding their innovative care to more Massachusetts residents in need.”

The Kraft Center for Community Health, which was launched in 2012 with a generous gift from the Kraft family, is an innovative new program that aims to improve access to high quality health care for low income populations by building a critical mass of clinician-leaders dedicated to community health. More information about the Kraft Center is available at: www.kraftcommunityhealth.org.