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Foundation-setters LindyLee Gold and Michael Taylor.
One of New Haven’s grassroots community health care success stories, the Cornell Scott Hill Health Center, has formed a new foundation — in order to set a new foundation to continue keeping New Haveners healthy for decades to come.
The new 501(c)3 Cornell Scott Hill-Health Center Foundation will raise money to support medical, dental, behavioral and pediatric health care.
It tapped a leading philanthropist, LinydLee Gold, to chair the foundation. Michael Taylor, who has served as Cornell Scott’s CEO for the past decade, will also serve as the foundation’s president.
Founded in 1968, Hill Health was one of the success stories in a wave of new neighborhood-based community health centers that have won bipartisan support nationwide. Fair Haven Health was another. The two have continued growing and in 2020 joined forces to run Yale New Haven Hospital’s primary care hub on Sargent Drive in addition to their own centers throughout the region.
Following is the text of the press release sent to announce the new Hill Health foundation:
The Board of Directors of the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center has voted to establish a foundation to support patient services and community initiatives. This development is prompted by the increased demand for and growth of healthcare services throughout Greater New Haven, including medical, behavioral health, dental and pediatric services.
The Cornell Scott Hill-Health Center Foundation will be led by LindyLee Gold, an active community philanthropist and veteran economic development leader, as Board Chair, and Michael R. Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of CS-HHC, as the Foundation’s President
“We believe that the Foundation, working passionately to support the quality of care provided by Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center, will make a difference in New Haven and the surrounding communities,” said Orlando Cordero, Board Chair of the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center. “LindyLee is a phenomenal leader in the areas of philanthropy and community development and Michael is an exceptional and visionary leader that has led the Health Center for a decade. Both possess extraordinary determination and a stellar track-record, setting a standard of excellence and achieving results, and share an unparalleled commitment to our mission and our community.”
During the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022, Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center accommodated more than 400,000 patient visits by approximately 55,000 Greater New Haven residents. Establishment of the Foundation will help to ensure a robust response to patient needs, reflecting the CS-HHC’s unwavering commitment to quality care.
“The mission of Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center is to improve the health and well-being of the communities we serve,” said Michael R. Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of CS-HHC and newly named President of the CS-HHC Foundation. “Patient demand for healthcare has increased exponentially in recent years, especially with the pandemic. This has encouraged us to seek private philanthropy. Our Foundation will help bridge the gap between increased patient need and our finite resources.”
Michael Taylor has served as Chief Executive Officer of Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center since 2012. He has previously held leadership positions with several national accounting and healthcare consulting firms and was Founder and President of a healthcare consulting firm that served more than 200 community health centers nationally. He serves on the Boards of Directors of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, the Community Health Center Association of Connecticut, the Community Health Network of Connecticut, and the National Association of Community Health Centers. During his tenure leading CS-HHC, the organization has been working to blaze a trail of care integration, quality, and patient-centeredness; renovate, expand or replace existing care sites and services; and bolster internal systems and infrastructures.
“The breadth of health care services provided, the trust that is established with each and every patient, and the respect that is conveyed from the moment individuals walk through their doors, are meaningful, consequential and life-changing,” observed LindyLee Gold.
“Seeing the dedicated professional staff and extraordinary facilities at Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center first-hand is incredibly inspiring,” Gold added. “I am convinced that this is a model for the nation and the world, and the Foundation will support efforts to increase public knowledge of the remarkable caliber of care and level of commitment, as we help to develop the resources necessary for CS-HHC to reach and respond to more people.”
LindyLee Gold is Senior Regional Manager at the Connecticut State Department of Economic & Community Development, serving as the commissioner’s representative to most of the Workforce Investment Boards, the CT Technical and Career Services Board, and the Governor’s Commission on Women and Girls. She serves on Foundation Boards including Gateway and Housatonic Community Colleges and Southern Connecticut State University, Conscious Capitalism, Social Venture Partners and the CT State Board of the Anti-Defamation League; and as Chair of the Jewish Federation Association of CT. She has worked for her community as both an elected official and a tireless volunteer and has received several awards for her contributions throughout New Haven.
The mission of the Foundation is “to support Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center in promoting the health and well-being of the communities it serves.” The newly established 501(c)(3) nonprofit is currently forming its Board of Directors, being led by Gold and Taylor, and expects to make a formal announcement of the Board composition of community leaders later this month.
This past spring, the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center recruited Mary Ellen Cody as the organization’s Chief Development Officer, following her lengthy and effective tenure at Gateway Community College in New Haven in a similar capacity. Cody will be working closely with the foundation as it gets underway.
The first community health center in Connecticut, the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center has a 55-year history of high-quality care, serving New Haven neighborhoods throughout the city. Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center also provides health care services to residents of the City of West Haven and towns in the Lower Naugatuck Valley — Ansonia, Seymour, Shelton, Naugatuck, and Oxford.
The Center was established in 1968 in a collaboration between the community and Yale School of Medicine, and is widely seen as a consistent and groundbreaking leader in the field.
The range of services provided at CS-HHC include comprehensive primary care, behavioral healthcare and addiction services, dental services, pediatrics and early childhood, delivered by a first-rate staff of healthcare professionals. Services are also provided to the homeless community.
