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ABOUT BMS

The BMS Family Health and Wellness Centers (BMS) delivers quality services and comprehensive programs to over 17,000 residents in East and Central Brooklyn (New York).  BMS provides a wide array of services that address and prevent health conditions, as well as strategies to empower our community through education, coordination, and advocacy. 

92% of patients rate us "Excellent" or "Good" on feedback surveys!

MISSION

BMS Family Health and Wellness Centers provide and promote integrative and high-quality health care and social services to enable every individual and family in the communities we serve to achieve Total Health and Wellness.

 

VISION

Our vision is to ignite a total health and wellness revolution that creates significant and lasting positive change in the communities we serve.

BMS’s roots go back to a founding Leadership who were part of the Brownsville Community Council (BCC) established in the 60s with the aim of organizing and empowering residents to develop responses to problems rooted in the radical community shift that started back in the 1950s. It was this group of community organizers who were on the frontlines of the activism that led to the Brownsville Teachers Strike. The Brownsville Community Development Corporation (BCDC) emerged in 1974, the first Community Development Corporation that came out of the federal anti-poverty initiative and the umbrella organization which later opened BMS in 1982. That decision was driven by a community survey where residents identified health care as their number one priority. BCDC created BMS as a federally qualified health center in order to provide service regardless of ability to pay, immigration or health insurance status. As part of our founding BCDC successfully advocated with Brooklyn Legal A to New York State Legislators to allow access to healthcare capital dollars for development by non-profits, not just hospitals – a change that paved the way for increases in healthcare access statewide. Today BMS provides for and seeks to inspire the cultural, economic, medical, and educational well-being of every individual and family in its communities. About Our Founder: Joseph Francois Joseph Francois was the former Chief Executive Officer of BCDC and the founding Executive Director of BMS. Mr. Francois, who passed away on July 13, 2003, was a tireless and passionate advocate for the people of Brownsville, Ocean Hill, and East New York. It was his leadership and vision that shaped the corporation’s mission as a social change agent. His legacy is in our every achievement. On May 11, 2006, the BMS Health & Wellness Centers (BMS) held a dedication ceremony during which BMS renamed one of its seven service sites as the “BMS Life & Wellness Center: The Joseph K. Francois Pavilion,” in honor of our late founding executive director of BMS.

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OUR STORY

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Our original logo still serves as the foundation upon which we developed updated branding.

LEADERSHIP TEAM

BMS is led by a group of outstanding professionals committed to providing equitable and culturally sensitive health
services to the most underserved people of Brownsville and East New York. The BMS staff is composed of 250+ highly qualified clinical staff of multiple cultural, ethnic, and professional backgrounds, many of them part of the community that BMS has served for over 45 years. Our President/CEO since 2009, Harvey Lawrence, recently honored with the prestigious National Association of Community Health Centers Lifetime Achievement Award, has retired and passed the baton on to Michelle Everett-Oxley. Thank you for your unwavering dedication and guidance.

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Michelle Everett-Oxley

President and CEO 

(She/Hers) 

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Camille Taylor Mullings 

Chief Medical Officer

(She/Hers)  

Edmund Awuah CPA, CGMA 

Chief Financial Officer & Executive Vice President

(He/His)

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Chief Operating Officer

(Open)

Alison Brown 

Director of Nursing

(She/Hers) 

Renee Muir

Managing Director of Development

Public Affairs & Health Equity  

(She/Hers) 

Karey Wallace

Vice President Human Resources

(She/Hers)

Guy Marthone

Managing Director Health Information, RCM, Technology & Telecommunication, and Health Information Systems

(He/His)  

Directs the development, implementation, and evaluation of the nursing regimen for BMS, involving health maintenance, patient education, and diagnosis and treatment of responses to actual and potential health problems.

Oversees strategy development, growth of the organization, grant writing and donors' engagement, community relations, public affairs, management of stakeholder partnerships, and community wellness programs.

Leads the human resources team and ensures that human capital-related policies and strategies are developed timely and uniformly implemented and applied across the organization.

Responsible for organizing, overseeing, and protecting patient health information data which includes symptoms, diagnoses, medical histories, test results, and procedures.

Hildegarde Reimers 

Managing Director of Quality 

& Risk Management 

(She/Hers) 

Ms. Astrid Carl, MBA, FACHE

Director of Credentialing

(She/Hers)

Mitchell Wolf

Managing Director of
Finance/Controller

(He/His) 

Genese Morgan

Senior Project & Business Manager, Fund Development & 

Special Projects

(She/Hers)

Responsible for the overall administration of quality and risk management, managed care, value-based initiatives, shared savings arrangements, patient-related services incentives and all patient services reimbursement contracts.

Leads the human resources team and ensures that human capital-related policies and strategies are developed timely and uniformly implemented and applied across the organization.

Responsible for designing, maintaining, and providing oversight of the organization’s financial internal control structure the financial books and records, budget reporting internally and externally.

Responsible for assisting in the day-to-day operations of the organization with a focus on capital and special projects.

OUR IMPACT

From our start with one clinical location, BMS had grown to operate out of ten service sites throughout Brownsville and East New York, employing more than 250 professional and support staff, many of them community residents. We are the second largest non-government employer in Brownsville and our staff serve 17,000 patients annually amounting to over 85,000 patient visits. 

THE 17,000 PEOPLE WE SERVE

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70% Black/Afro Latinx

15% Latinx

15% Multi racial

WHAT WE PROVIDED

Healthcare Access

85.6K

Healthcare visits

Insurance Aid

10K

Patients assisted

Food

2MM

Pounds of emergency food*

*COVID Services, 2020

WIC Nutrition

2.3K

Residents served

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2020-2023 COVID-19 IMPACT

As a comprehensive Federally Qualified Health Center, BMS carried out outstanding work addressing the disproportionate impact on health and social needs, and consequences that our communities endured over the course of the COVID-19 outbreak.

We quickly pivoted to provide informative outreach, telehealth, testing, food, supplies, and locally accessible vaccinations to all, including incentives for hesitant segments of the communities.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

BMS undertakes considerable efforts to plan and implement capital projects to expand access to high-quality healthcare. From one clinic site in Rockaway Avenue, we have grown to three clinical locations and over seven service points offering specialized care and social services. BMS has developed strong relationships with public, private, and community-based partners to bring in capital investment for the construction of long-lasting facilities.

Oral Care Expansion

BMS Dental @Bristol   

Since 1988, BMS Dental grew from  one to three dental practices - BMS Dental@Main, BMS Dental@Genesis and BMS Dental@Ashford, for a total of 12 dental operatories. The 2022 opening of our BMS Dental@Bristol increased our exam room capacity by 10 dental operatories. BMS will re-open the BMS Dental@Genesis site for a total of 15 dental operatories. BMS Dental@Bristol includes: 

  • State of the Art Design 

  • 10 examination rooms  

  • Full-service oral healthcare 

  • Electronic dental records  

Workforce Training 

BMS Workforce and Training Center 

This project will bring workforce training resources to our communities to support residents skills building to move them out of poverty. This location will provide a wide range of education, training, and resources on health, wellness, and community economic development. It will provide direct connections to BMS’s ever-growing employment referral network, and cultivate the next generation of health care industry workers. 

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Urgent Care Expansion

BMS Express@Dumont Urgent Care

This state-of-the-art facility adds an intercessory level of episodic care and an access point to transform the behaviors of those who currently frequent emergency rooms. Incorporated into the care model will be enhanced care coordination and referrals to ensure patient follow-up, primary care, social services, and behavioral health. It is located within affordable and supportive housing Van Dyke III in Brownsville. The new site includes: 

  • 6 exam rooms with a nursing station for medical treatment  

  • 1 phlebotomy room 

 

Wellness Centers

BMS @Dumont Wellness Studio

Located in the Dumont Van Dyke housing development, this exercise and nutrition studio is a state of the art flexible design space for movement activities and health and nutrition education events.  The Wellness Studio offer classes to BMS Patients and the Community with the goal of having a positive impact on obesity and chronic disease. Our goal is to stand up an Exercise in Medicine and Food as Prescription programs as part of the opportunities presented in the new 1115 waiver.  Our Current class schedules are available HERE.

 

BMS Community Development Funders Include:

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OUR STANDARDS

BMS is recognized excellence in providing total health and wellness, and quality care. 

We are pleased to announce that in 2022 BMS Received the following Quality Awards:.

Joint Commission Gold Seal

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Silver Medal Award: Health Center Quality Leader  

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Advancing Health
Information 

Technology (Hit)
For Quality 

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Federally Qualified Health Center

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Patient Centered Medical Home
(PCMH)

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Accountable Health Organization

GET INVOLVED

Health should not be a privilege and your zip code should not determine your lifespan. BMS has been a leader in developing innovative programs in partnership with community residents and stakeholders to improve health outcomes for the families we serve. 

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Give

Click below to support our integrative and high-quality healthcare, however you can.

Come Help Us

Looking for other ways to help? If you have a few hours, you can make a big difference.

Partner with Us

Help us fund infrastructure, programming and services to strengthen our community.

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Work with Us

Passionate about providing the best care to patients? Want a place to grow? Check us out. 

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