Jay Breines

Biography

Jay Breines has been the Executive Director of Holyoke Health Center since 1994. Mr. Breines has a graduate degree in health planning from Hunter College in New York City and has been in the field of community health since 1972. Upon arriving in Vermont, he created the first-in-the- nation program for a state-wide dental care program for children. Jay has administered, initiated and/or developed eight (8) Community Health Centers in Vermont and Massachusetts. Jay is a founding Board member of the Holyoke Community Charter School, which opened its doors in 2005 serving over 700 low-income, mostly Latino children in Holyoke.

Since 1994, Mr. Breines has been involved in the expansion of the Holyoke Health Center, the only free-standing comprehensive primary health care center serving the low-income and medically under-served populations of greater Holyoke and Chicopee.

Mr. Breines has worked with a committed, talented and professional team to conceptualize, fund, and develop a full-service medical care complex, located in downtown Holyoke, Massachusetts that has had a huge, positive impact on residents’ access to comprehensive, quality health care. This vision and persistence enabled the Health Center to complete a $20 million historic renovation of four, connected commercial buildings via New Market Tax Credits, historical preservation tax credits and other non-traditional funding streams.

The same focus has more recently led to the opening of a new, comprehensive health center in Chicopee, creating a new access point for up to 10,000 persons in that community.

HHC’s excellence in clinical care has been recognized by JCAHO accreditation, federal site visits and accreditation by the American Dental Association as a residency training site. HHC continues to use data-driven, need-based programming on behalf of patients to create expanded opportunities for care and new reimbursement mechanisms. Last year, over 20,000 patients were served with approximately over 100,000 patient visits. Over 80% of HHC’s staff and patient population is Latino. Clinical services are supported by referral to internal behavioral health services, social services, health education and health access programming.

Mr. Breines’ commitment to dental services has resulted in one of the largest dental practices in Western Massachusetts. It now includes specialty services, dental student preceptorships and dental residency programs. Pharmacy has also been incorporated into the operations of both the Chicopee and Holyoke sites with a focus on full, comprehensive services and integration into the primary care systems already in place.

He is presently involved in a number of significant issues that have national impact, including: jail health integration with community-based Health Centers; dental capacity developments in inner city communities; community development in inner cities as a component of public health programming; and the development and expansion of models fostering the integration of health services and the use of chronic disease self-management approaches.