Westchester Community Health Center

(formerly Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center)

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Home | About Us | Guiding Principles

Guiding Principles

Our Vision

To offer health and wellness services that will optimize the lives of all members of the community.

Our Values

These are the values that guide how we treat each other in the workplace, our patients, and our community.

Providing excellent, high-quality care – We strive to provide the best outcomes for our patients. Using best practices, we offer evidence-based, culturally sensitive high-quality care using a team approach.

Promoting a Respectful and Diverse Workplace – Our staff is committed to providing excellent health care and we will provide a respectful, positive, and collegial atmosphere where different views are respected. We seek to have a diverse workforce that reflects the make-up of the population we serve to create a comfortable and culturally sensitive environment.

Embracing our Differences – We will respect and acknowledge the cultural diversity of our community and treat all of our patients with dignity.

Making Health Care Accessible to All – We recognize that the overall health system has racial and cultural biases, and we will work to advance equity and social justice. We offer a welcoming and inclusive environment where each patient and employee is treated with respect.

Teamwork – We understand that our patients need a team providing complementary services. We understand that our patients often need more than one healthcare provider. We will work together to offer an interdisciplinary approach that leads to the best possible outcome for our patients. We will always strive to be better and to continue learning professionally as we improve our healthcare delivery.

Holistic Approach to Health Care – We will serve families by offering primary and preventative care including behavioral health. We recognize that our patients need more than health care and we will offer a wide range of social services to help our patients lead their best possible lives.

Partnering with our Community– We embrace our community and the groups in it that want to form collaborative partnerships allowing us to reach a broader group of patients needing our services.

Statement on Social Justice

Our health center was born out of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, dedicated to improving a system of racial health disparities and inequities. Racism continues as a major public health crisis, and it will continue to be as long as health outcomes continue to be different for ethnic groups.

INJUSTICE ANYWHERE
IS A THREAT
TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE

– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Racial minorities have higher rates of chronic diseases and premature deaths. Minorities are disproportionately impacted by diseases such as asthma, hypertension, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and more recently COVID-19 and Mpox. For example, African American men are nearly twice as likely as whites to die prematurely from strokes. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the maternal mortality rate in the U.S. is 2.5 times higher for Black women than for white women.

We stand as an advocate for affordable healthcare access to all. Health disparities will never be resolved until social justice triumphs and all people are treated with equality, dignity, and respect.

Social justice is a public health crisis because the well-being of our community as a whole ultimately impacts all of us on individual levels. Health care is a basic human right. We are committed to treating every person with dignity and care, regardless of the color of their skin, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, insurance status, or income level.

Westchester Community Health Center is dedicated to combating inequity and providing a positive environment where our entire community can feel comfortable receiving excellent and culturally sensitive care.

So long as communities experience oppression, we, as a society, will not be able to guarantee health and well-being for everyone.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Statement

We are committed to fostering a culture of inclusion across all areas of our organization and do not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, disability, race, color, ancestry, citizenship, religion, pregnancy, sexual orientation, national origin, medical condition, marital status, veteran status, payment source or ability, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state or local law.

At Westchester Community Health Center, we value the diversity in our organization and community and believe that each individual brings a unique perspective that contributes to a vibrant work environment. We think that different ideas, experiences, and perspectives create a strong work environment that helps us achieve the best possible outcomes for our patients.