To the Editor:

Strokes, cervical cancer, and opioid overdose are threatening the lives of residents of Dorchester, Mattapan, and Hyde Park. And a mere twenty minutes away, researchers deliver cutting-edge cancer and heart disease therapies.

Year over year, offices in the city and state publish health reports summarizing the disenfranchisement of economic and educational opportunities at the center of health inequities in Boston’s minority neighborhoods. During the pandemic, the bleak reality portrayed in these reports served as a driver for change. Only a few years later, the enthusiasm and promise of investment has all but disappeared.

At the center of those statistics are women, children, and families experiencing senseless casualties in one of the nation’s wealthiest cities. These residents of Boston have faces, fears, and aspirations. They help grow the food that gets to our table, pick up our trash, and clean our hospitals and homes.

Neglect undoubtedly played a role in how easily top officials closed Carney Hospital. But we have a chance to give new life to our neighbors who are equally deserving of access to the fundamental services they help maintain.

The former Carney Hospital property sits on nearly 12 acres of land and presents a tremendous opportunity to establish programs that will positively impact generations of residents. We envision a campus reimagined into one that provides four services: women’s health and preventative education, urgent care, behavioral health, and job and skills training.

Education, employment opportunities, and preventative health access are key to economic mobility and to leading a productive and fulfilling life. The Carney site can sit at the center of the significant investment that needs to be made.

While women live longer than men, they are not necessarily living better. They are more vulnerable to conditions such as thyroid disease and most affected by conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, and depression. Their anatomical and hormone differences call for specialized care and treatment catered to their biology.

Also, women live nearly half their lives outside of reproductive years, yet most health initiatives are geared toward reproductive health.

We envision a center in the heart of Dorchester addressing the lives of women throughout their lifespan and providing services from breast and cervical health, to heart disease treatment and prevention, as well as teen pregnancy, infant mortality, and family planning.

The psychiatric services Carney provided were essential to the health capacity of Dorchester, Mattapan and Hyde Park. They should be reinstated. For decades residents of these key neighborhoods have demonstrated creativity, resilience, and advocacy. The missing element has been the financial ability to scale efforts.

Here is our opportunity to implement one of the missing pieces that can save the lives of thousands for decades.

Submitted by Dr. Sharma E. Joseph, the director of health policy and advocacy at the New England Medical Association, and Dr. Ellana Stinson, president of the New England Medical Association and a board-certified emergency medicine physician at Boston Medical Center.