PHOTO CAPTION: The Horn family of Reading has helped Greater Lawrence Family Health Center close out its capital campaign. Pictured, from left, are Diane Martin, Senior Vice President Chief Pharmacy Services; Richard Napolitano, Chief Strategy Officer; Guy Fish, MD, President & Chief Executive Officer; and Bernard and Lorraine Horn.

Bernie and Lorraine Horn both contracted COVID-19 in March of 2020. When a vaccine first became available several months later, the Reading couple wanted to make sure they received doses as soon as possible.

Mr. Horn was able to schedule an appointment quickly and close by at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center (GLFHC) where a member of their family now worked as a pharmacist. Danielle (Silva) McManus, originally from Methuen, had recently joined GLFHC after leaving a large drug chain where she had worked locally, also as a pharmacist. After joining the health center, Mrs. McManus played a significant role in providing the vaccine throughout the region at GLFHC’s Haverhill Vaccine Clinic in Central Plaza. Mr. Horn said he was impressed with the health center’s overall customer service; when he had his second dose appointment canceled in error, one staff member reached out by phone several times to ensure he was rescheduled as soon as possible for that second dose.

“I was struck with the diligence and quality of care by the staff,” Mr. Horn said. “My professional due diligence ‘radar’ was triggered as I realized the vaccination staff work for a high performing organization where top management must have set the tone for the standard of care and service.”

After reaching out to GLFHC to express their gratitude for the care they received, the Horns learned about the health center’s $3.5 million Keeping the Promise Capital Campaign from Chief Strategy Officer Rich Napolitano, who led the organization’s campaign along with his team. Mr. Napolitano shared with them that the campaign sought to renovate GLFHC’s flagship 34 Haverhill Street, Lawrence location and provide better access to both pharmacy and medical services for patients throughout Greater Lawrence and at the same time create a more efficient and complete academic environment for its Lawrence Family Medicine Residency Program. The health center was close to reaching its goal, and the Horns decided to close that gap with the largest single private donation in the health center’s history.

“We were impressed with the breadth of the medical care that must be delivered to a truly diverse community across the full socio-economic spectrum,” Mr. Horn said. “Diversity and inclusion are the very fabric of their communities and their history and it shows in how the community works together.”

Mr. Napolitano said, “This gift from the Horns is not only transformational for GLFHC but is also the largest private gift we have ever received from an individual or family. The Horns’ support of our Keeping the Promise Campaign has allowed us to complete our building project which is focused on expanding what we do best – providing better access to comprehensive health care and creating a better learning environment for our nationally acclaimed Lawrence Family Medicine Residency program. We are also proud to say that their gift will support the naming of the Lawrence Family Medicine Residency Education Center in their honor once the project is fully completed.”

Bernard R. Horn Jr. is President and Portfolio Manager of Polaris Capital Management, LLC, a leading Boston-based global and international value equity firm. Mr. Horn founded Polaris in April 1995 to expand his existing client base dating to the early 1980s. He is a graduate of Northeastern University and the Alfred P. Sloan School of Management at MIT. The Polaris company website states that Mr. Horn’s pure global value philosophy combines investment technology with traditional fundamental research. His 35-plus year track record exceeds most current competitors in length and has produced admirable risk-adjusted returns since inception. Lorraine Horn is a registered nurse and remembers the beginnings of community health centers in Boston in the 1960s and their important evolution over many decades. She is a graduate of the Bridgeport School of Nursing and earned her BSN from University of Massachusetts, Boston.  Mrs. Horn’s nursing career includes ICU and CCU assignments at the Boston Veterans Administration Medical Center, recovery room staff at Harvard Community Health Plan Hospital, Private Health Care Systems (Utilization Review Nurse Coordinator) and Lahey Clinic Medical Center (“Status One” Case Management, Utilization and Quality Management review).

For 40 years, GLFHC has provided health care to the people of the Merrimack Valley, beginning with one location in Lawrence and expanding to seven sites in Lawrence, Methuen, and Haverhill, with six of the seven locations also including full service comprehensive pharmacy services. The health center also provides addiction services, as well as health care to the homeless at 13 homeless shelters and through its two Mobile Health Units. In addition, GLFHC operates two school-based clinic-only sites at Lawrence High and Greater Lawrence Technical School.  Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, GLFHC has been a leader throughout the region in their response – providing more than 120,000 vaccines and conducting over 75,000 COVID PCR tests along the way.

The Haverhill Street site is the largest and busiest of GLFHC’s locations, accounting for 33% of GLFHC’s 260,000-plus annual patient visits. The pharmacy is housed on the first floor, adjacent to the clinic waiting room, enabling patients to fill their prescriptions before leaving their doctor’s offices if they choose. The two upper floors of the three-story center are home to the pregnancy and parenting programs, and the nationally renowned Lawrence Family Medicine Residency (LFMR) program. LFMR was the first community health center-based Family Medicine Residency in the United States, established in 1994, and currently serves as the national model for primary care residency training based in underserved communities and focused upon understanding and treating area residents’ health care needs.

Renovations will include:

• Creation of a separate entrance and waiting area for the Family Pharmacy. GLFHC’s pharmacies fill 600,000 prescriptions a year, with 50% of them filled through the Haverhill Street Pharmacy.
• Creating space on the second floor for a dedicated Behavioral Health suite to support the full range of expanded behavioral and mental health programs.
• Plans for the third floor include creation of a customized learning environment for the Lawrence Family Medicine Residency program that inspires hope and healing.

“It is with pride and great confidence we make this pledge to help complete the Keeping the Promise Campaign,” Mr. Horn said. “Knowing that this current campaign will use these funds to enable GLFHC to provide better patient access and more services for people in need while enhancing the quality of experience for the patient/customer and the residents being trained for the primary care workforce, makes us very happy.”