BMS Health, Wellness Center Receives Subaru from Chase Auto

Chase Auto donated a Subaru Forester to Brownsville Multi-Service Family Health Center (BMS), to better support their COVID-19 Relief efforts.

BMS a Federally Qualified Community Health Center (FQHC) also known as Community Health Center, is part of New York’s safety net providers. BMS’s primary service area includes Brownsville and East New York, two neighborhoods already impacted pre-COVID-19 by significant health and economic disparities. The organization serves low income residents at eight primary and preventive care locations, and nine public housing, senior residences and homeless shelters, all free of charge.

This new Forester will help BMS increase its capacity to transport staff, medical equipment, such as blood pressure machines, and food to its 23,000 patients. The SUV will also serve as a vehicle hotspot. Many of its elderly patients are unable to video chat with doctors due to lack of internet access. In addition, the Subaru will triple as a mobile educational unit by broadcasting BMS’s free COVID-19 testing and other clinical offerings into neighborhoods.

"Brownsville Multi-Service Family Health Center is an organization with a community-based mission that is so critical during these times," said Melinda Welsh, Chase Auto CMO and Head of Consumer Programs. "Many of our employees live and work in Brooklyn. We were more than happy to support BMS as they deliver lifesaving services to residents in need."

“BMS’s COVID-19 efforts are extremely important for the Brownsville and East New York Community since our communities of color already faced significant disparities in premature death due to hypertension and diabetes and were left even more vulnerable to COVID-19” said Harvey Lawrence, Chief Executive Officer for BMS Family Health and Wellness Centers. “Support from JPMorgan Chase, helps continued care delivery through supplies of safety equipment for our healthcare workers, resources to transition patients to Telehealth and transportation to move staff across sites as well as delivering food across our community.”

BMS's free COVID-19 testing tent is located in the parking lot adjacent to the BMS Main location on Rockaway Avenue in Brownsville. Tests are administered by Doctors Without Borders, BMS staff and clinician volunteers. To date, BMS conducted over 1,500 tests and are seeing positive test results rates of 20% of those tested.

BMS also offers high-quality, comprehensive primary and preventive care to anyone to who needs it via Telehealth and in person visits – regardless of whether they have insurance, their immigration status or if they can pay. This includes dental, vision, and behavioral health services – including substance use disorder treatment.

The BMS Food Safety Net initiative provides weekly distributions of food bags at nine area locations including New York City Housing Authority Developments, Homeless Shelters and Senior residences. Through donations from City Harvest among others, and in cooperation with members of the Community District 16 Health and Wellness Stakeholders, since March 2020, BMS has distributed over 10,000 food bags to its patients and the community.

Brownsville and East New York exceed the Borough and City rates for Poverty, Unemployment and Rent Burden and the resulting high levels of economic stress impact overall health outcomes with a direct correlation to the neighborhoods’ high rates of chronic disease such as Cancer, Obesity, Diabetes, Hypertension, HIV and Psychiatric Hospitalizations, which exceed both the Borough and City rates. Not surprisingly, both Brownsville and East New York are experiencing high COVID-19 infections rates with East New York having the highest mortality rate in New York State.