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In This Issue:
Brookside Community Health Center
James “JT” Stokes is the driving force behind BWH’s Brookside Community Health Center. He has provided transportation services there for 34 years—without missing a single shift—and connected with countless children in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood and BWH patients and employees.
“JT is one of the most trusted and reliable people I know,” Paula McNichols, executive director of Brookside Community Health Center, said. “He can’t go anywhere without being greeted by people whose lives he’s brightened.”
When he began at Brookside in 1972, Stokes was responsible for driving children involved in the School Dental Program to and from local elementary schools and Brookside. Throughout the years, he has maintained friendships with many of them, and now he drives their children.
“I’ve met a lot of nice people and watched families grow throughout the years,” Stokes said.
As Brookside grew, so did Stokes’ responsibilities and enthusiasm. He now provides a “concierge” courier service throughout BWH’s distributed campus. On a typical day, Stokes drives children to and from their dental appointments at Brookside; delivers lab specimens and important interoffice documents from Brookside to BWH’s main campus, Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center and Brookside’s Teen Health Center; transports Pharmacy orders; collects materials from the state lab and Boston Health Commission; deposits checks and bank statements; and drives elderly and handicapped patients between their homes and the hospital.
“Every time JT drives down the street or makes a delivery, people know him and make a point of stopping to say hello,” McNichols said.