By Mayor Carlo DeMaria
As Cambridge Health Alliance recognizes its 20th Anniversary, I am proud to celebrate our partnership focused on enhancing the quality of life in Everett better. My vision is to make our community a healthy place for families and we have accomplished a great deal in recent years.
On November 1, the Whidden Memorial Hospital, which has been in operation since 1897, officially changed its name to CHA Everett Hospital. While the name has changed, Georgia Whidden’s legacy lives on through the many excellent services provided, including an understanding emergency room, staff and a mission dedicated to servicing the people of Everett and our neighboring communities. The hospital is also honoring Georgia Whidden’s legacy by keeping the Whidden name on the buildings first floor.
CHA is critical to our community, hosting a Primary Care Clinic on Broadway by providing a Teen Health Center at the High School, and ensuring that our population has access to affordable and high-quality care. Working with the Everett Community Health Partnership, CHA has also been key in addressing a multitude of issues in the community, like opioid misuse and underage drinking.
Their role in our city was recognized when Everett was being named a recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson Culture of Health prize last year for leveraging our strengths and rallying community partners around a shared vision of health.
On a personal note, I grew up behind the Whidden, and in fact delivered newspapers as a young boy to the neighborhood and hospital. I got to know many of the patients, and I will always have fond memories of the great staff and the true difference that the Whidden has made in peoples’ lives. I look forward to CHA Everett carrying on Georgia Whidden’s legacy.
As we look to the future, I am excited to look for ways that we can continue to work together to make Everett a great place to live, work, play and raise a family.