Health Center Reports Beating National Patient Averages; Now Debt Free

Greater Lawrence Family Health Center President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Ingala.

Greater Lawrence Family Health Center President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Ingala.

GLFHC Chief Quality Officer Dean Cleghorn.

GLFHC Chief Quality Officer Dean Cleghorn.

A healthcare organization without debt and one that still beats many national patient outcome averages is seemingly rare.

The Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, however, reported just such findings last week. The non-profit released its 2015 annual report last week before a crowd of supporters and donors at Andover Country Club. In addition, according to retiring President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Ingala, the group saved the health care system $58 million.

“Community health centers actually save the health system three dollars for every dollar that the federal government invests. That’s because we’re a natural alternative to very expensive emergency room care,” he said.

GLFHC operates five primary care offices in Lawrence and one in Methuen. The group has previously discussed Haverhill expansion plans with city officials.

Quality indicators show GLFHC patient outcomes beat national Medicaid plan averages in areas such as diabetes management, weight control, disease prevention, cervical cancer screenings and controlled blood pressure. As an example, Chief Quality Officer Dean Cleghorn pointed to successes in controlling diabetes.

“We know that close to a thousand patients now are well controlled that were not in the past because of the kind of care that we’ve been able to manage and improve on over time,” he said.

Ingala also reported GLFHC recorded a total of 55,000 patients during the last year—up from 25,000 when he began 14 years ago; 245,000 patient visits; 500,000 prescriptions; and patient satisfaction ranked at 4.46 out of 5. According to data compiled in 2013 by the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, GLFHC generated $92 million in local economic activity and its employees paid $13 million in state income taxes. Another achievement drew applause.

“In this past year we were fortunate enough to be able to liquidate all of our long-term debts. So we are now debt-free as an organization,” Ingala said.