The Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center (EMK) mission makes plain the equity implications of its services: "As a community health center, Kennedy Community Health provides comprehensive care to its patients, who are at disparate risk for chronic disease and poor health outcomes."
The majority of patients served are uninsured or underinsured, and many face barriers related to transportation or language in addition to having low incomes. In 2003, community leaders secured over $850,000 in federal funding to expand the health center to Framingham. A March 2004 newspaper article states that the patients "were previously forced to rely upon a hodgepodge of clinics that offered partial services or were open for only part of the time. The Great Brook Valley Health Center in Worcester alone handled about 12,000 visits annually from residents in the Framingham area." Further, "recent cuts to health care for low-income people has made it especially difficult for some residents to get the medical attention they need." Within months of opening, EMK leadership approached the Framingham planning board about building a new facility on Waverly Street, which would allow EMK to serve more people and offer more services, such as dentistry, optometry, and mammography. EMK faced pushback from the community over concerns about traffic and parking as well as the density of social services already existing in the area. EMK argued the business case, in addition to the social justice case, for the facility: "It's less expensive to provide preventive care in a clinic setting than to pay for the same person to go to the emergency room once an illness or injury progresses," states an August 2004 article. "Health center officials say the care they are providing, apart from being urgently needed, benefits the larger community because it frees up local emergency rooms."