Our History and Standards
The Brownsville Community Development Corporation (BCDC) was incorporated in 1974. Since its inception the corporation has offered a wide variety of services to the residents of Brownsville and surrounding neighborhoods.
"The Brownsville Community Development Corporation's (BCDC) vision is to ignite a total health and wellness revolution that creates significant and lasting positive change in the communities we serve."
Joseph Francois was the former Chief Executive Officer of the Brownsville Community Development Corporation and the founding Executive Director of Brownsville Multi-Service Family Health Center. Mr. Francois, who passed away on July 13, 2003, was a tireless and passionate advocate for the people of Brownsville, Oceanhill and East New York. It was his leadership and vision that shaped the corporation’s mission as a social change agent. We are ever mindful that his legacy is in our every achievement. On May 11, 2006, the BMS Health & Wellness Centers (BMS) held a dedication ceremony during which the BMS Life & Wellness Center, one of the Health Center’s seven service sites, was renamed, BMS Life & Wellness Center: Joseph K. Francois Pavilion, in honor of Joseph K. Francois, the late founding executive director of BMS.
ROOTED IN COMMUNITY
Today, BMS has over 45 years of experience in the design and delivery of comprehensive community development and
quality health access delivery systems.
Our Founder,
Joseph Francois
OUR MISSION
In 1982, BCDC established BMS Family Health and Wellness Centers (formerly Brownsville Multi-Service Family Health Center) with the mission to provide and promote integrative, high quality health care and social services to enable every individual and family in the communities we serve to achieve lifelong Total Health and Wellness.
FEDERALLY QUALIFIED HEALTH CENTER
Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) include all organizations receiving grants under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act (PHS). FQHCs qualify for enhanced reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid, as well as other benefits. FQHCs must serve an under served area or population, offer a sliding fee scale, provide comprehensive services, have an ongoing quality assurance program, and have a governing board of directors. BMS board is comprised of a majority (at least 51%) of active, registered clients of the health center who are representative of the populations served by the center. The governing board ensures that the center is community based and responsive to the community’s health care needs.
ACCOUNTABLE HEALTH ORGANIZATION
The ACO concept is one that is still evolving, but it can be generically defined as a group of health care providers, potentially including doctors, hospitals, health plans and other health care constituents, who voluntarily come together to provide coordinated high-quality care to populations of patients. The goal of coordinated care provided by an ACO is to ensure that patients and populations — especially the chronically ill — get the right care, at the right time and without harm, while avoiding care that has no proven benefit or represents an unnecessary duplication of services. BMS Participates with Community Care Brooklyn.
MEANINGFUL USE ATTESTATION
Meaningful use is using certified electronic health record (EHR) technology to:Improve quality, safety, efficiency, and reduce health disparities. Engage patients and family, Improve care coordination, and population and public health, Maintain privacy and security of patient health information. Ultimately, it is hoped that the meaningful use compliance will result in:Better clinical outcomes, Improved population health outcomes, Increased transparency and efficiency, Empowered individuals, More robust research data on health systems
BMS earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® by demonstrating compliance with The Joint Commission’s national standards for health care quality and safety. The certification award recognizes BMS’s dedication to continuous compliance with The Joint Commission’s state-of-the- art standards. BMS is the only free standing health center in Brooklyn with Joint Commission Accreditation.
HEALTH CENTER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AWARD 2019 BRONZE MEDAL
BMS was awarded the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) 2019 Quality Improvement Award along with other health centers across the Nation. The award recognizes the work that health centers do to address health priorities as they provide quality, value-based community care. The award was based on the Community Health Center’s high performance in categories including: Improving Clinical Quality of Care, Health Center Quality Leaders, Advancing Health Information Technology and Achieving Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition. HRSA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is the primary federal agency for improving health care to people who are geographically isolated, economically or medically vulnerable. To learn more about HRSA visit https://www.hrsa.gov/.
PATIENT CENTERED MEDICAL HOME (PCMH)
The PCMH is a model of healthcare based on an on-going, personal relationship between a patient, doctor and the patient's care team. Whatever the medical needs – primary or secondary, preventive care, acute care, chronic care, or end-of-life care – the patient has a medical "home"; a single, trusted doctor and care team, through which continuous, comprehensive and integrated care is provided. BMS Main, BMS ISIS @ Bristol and BMS @ Genesis all have attain PCMH Level III – the highest recognition level for this program.
The 340B Drug Pricing Program requires drug manufacturers to provide outpatient drugs to eligible health care organizations/covered entities at significantly reduced prices. Eligible health care organizations/covered entities are defined in statute and include HRSA-supported health centers and look-alikes, Ryan White clinics and State AIDS Drug Assistance programs, Medicare/Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospitals, children’s hospitals, and other safety net providers. This program allows us to offer affordable medications to our patients.