As you all became aware, Syracuse Community Health Center is changing its name to Syracuse Community Health, our logo to be more visually appealing, with more vibrant colors, and lastly, our tagline to “Healthy Happens Here.” I’m pleased to report your response to these changes has been overwhelmingly positive.

As we concentrate our efforts on growth in the coming days, weeks, months and years, it is imperative that we hold central to our efforts to improve the patient experience. This responsibility lies with each of us. From the parking lot to the exam room, our mission to serve the underserved is paramount, and serves as our mission’s priority. This cannot effectively happen without each of us. You. Me. Us together.

There are many initiatives and changes that are slated to occur in addition to changes to our name and logo. We are expecting to break ground within the next few months on our new state-of-the-art building. In addition to the use of new technology and an integrated approach to medicine, our new facility will utilize recent advancements in green technology to help reduce our carbon footprint, as our country and the international community address climate change. We will do our part by utilizing geothermal technology and fitting our building to prospectively adopt solar technology.

Our goal as we adopt ever-evolving green technology is to reduce our building’s carbon footprint to zero, save lives and reduce costs. Though we have not decided on the uses for our existing building, know that at the forefront of our approach will be to more effectively serve our patients and our community. Should you have ideas, please forward them to CEOConnect@schcny.com no later than Tuesday, August 31, and we will be sure to inform you of the ideas that have been presented. We will consider your ideas as we proceed up the path to a new health center, as we pave the way to provide healthcare to our community for decades to come.