We are writing today with several important updates to our services that Fenway Health is making in response to the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency. Beginning Monday, March 23, Fenway Health will implement changes to the way we operate to continue serving our patients and clients while also working to help prevent community spread of COVID-19.
Following guidance from our local, state, and federal government, we are contacting all patients with appointments scheduled for this coming week and, whenever possible, converting those appointments to telehealth appointments that we will conduct by phone. We will continue to see patients in person when such a visit is absolutely necessary. Because of the decreased volume of patients we will be seeing in person, we are changing the clinical hours of operation at our 1340 Boylston Street and Fenway: South End locations as follows:
Medical & Nursing Departments
- 1340 Boylston Street (Ansin Building)
Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 5:30 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
If you need to schedule an in-person or telehealth appointment with a medical provider for either a new issue or for follow up of an existing condition, please do not hesitate to contact our Appointment Line at 617.927.6000. We are still open for business and we are here to serve you. Whenever possible, please do not walk in to the health center to request services. Medical and Behavioral Health telehealth visits may occur outside of these hours.
- 142 Berkeley Street (Fenway: South End)
Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 5:30 pm
If you need to schedule an in-person or telehealth appointment with a medical provider for either a new issue or for follow up of an existing condition, please do not hesitate to contact our Appointment Line at 617.247.7555. We are still open for business and we are here to serve you. Whenever possible, please do not walk in to the health center to request services. Medical and Behavioral Health telehealth visits may occur outside of these hours.
- Medical Department Call Center
Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
In order to better serve you, we will also be expanding operating hours and staffing in our Medical Department Call Center. If you need to speak with a nurse, please do not hesitate to reach the Call Center by calling 617.927.6300*.
*after hours, this number is covered by our answering service, which can connect you to Call4Health, a nurse triage service that works directly with our on call physicians to meet your needs.
Sidney Borum, Jr. Health Program
We will also be temporarily consolidating staff from the Sidney Borum, Jr. Health Program to our 1340 Boylston Street and Fenway: South End sites. Borum patients can continue to call 617.457.8140 to schedule an in-person or telehealth appointment, to speak to a Borum nurse, or to receive after hours advice. Please do not show up to the Borum for care.
Eye Care
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency, our Eye Care Department has changed our hours of operation to Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm.
Optometry
If you need to schedule an in-person or telehealth appointment with an optometry provider for either a new issue or for follow up of an existing condition, please do not hesitate to contact our Optometry Line at 617.927.6190. We are still open for business and we are here to serve you. Whenever possible, please do not walk in to the health center to request services.
Optical Shop
Due to physical space limitations of our optical department we ask that you do not walk in to request services. If you are in need of any optical related services please contact our Optical Line at 857.313.6581 and we will schedule an appointment for you.
Dental Department
All non-urgent visits have been cancelled. If you are experiencing a dental emergency, and need to schedule a telehealth appointment with a dentist, please do not hesitate to contact our Dental Line at 617.927.6127. Whenever possible, please do not walk in to the health center to request services.
Fenway Pharmacy
Pharmacies at both 1340 Boylston Street and Fenway: South End will remain open to serve you during the following hours of operation:
- 1340 Boylston Street (Ansin Building)
Monday – Friday 8:30 am – 7:00 pm
Call 617.927.6330 – please ask us about how we can deliver or mail your medication to your home or workplace free of charge.
Request refills electronically or via the Rx2Go app on your mobile phone.
- 142 Berkeley Street (Fenway: South End)
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 8:00 am – 5:30 pm
Wednesday 8:00 am – 6:30 pm
Friday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Call 617.927.6163 – please ask us about how we can deliver or mail your medication to your home or workplace free of charge.
Request refills electronically or via the Rx2Go app on your mobile phone.
Prescription Refills & Prior Authorization Assistance
In response to increased demand for prescription refills, we are expanding our Prescription Refill Line (617.927.6333) hours to:
Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 5:30 pm.
- If you don’t already use the Fenway Pharmacy for your refill needs, please consider doing so today by contacting us and asking us to transfer your prescriptions. Using the Fenway Pharmacy is one of the most effective ways you can support Fenway Health.
- If you don’t use the Fenway Pharmacy, you should contact your pharmacy directly and they will submit an electronic request to us.
All of these changes allow us to achieve several important things:
- We will still be able to meet the demand for in-person care at 1340 Boylston and Fenway: South End
- By performing most of our medical visits by telephone (and eventually by video telehealth service), we decrease the risk of patients and staff getting infected during this time of heightened risk
- By decreasing wait times and expanding hours of operation on both the Medical Department Call Center and the Prescription Refill Line, we will serve all patients more quickly. This also improves our ability to triage seriously ill patients and reduce their risk of exposure to others.
- They allow patients of our Sidney Borum, Jr. Health Program to be cared for at our 1340 Boylston and Fenway: South End locations.
- Consolidating sites and reducing the number of onsite staff will help us conserve hand sanitizer and personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks and gowns, which are currently in short supply nationwide.
We remain in close communication with our community stakeholders, including our partner hospital Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the Boston Public Health Commission, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. This pandemic is a very fluid situation and we will be ready to implement additional changes, should they be required.
We know these are stressful times for everyone. Fenway Health is committed to continuing our mission of caring for our patients and clients even as we make some operational changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please check our COVID-19 page regularly for updates and links to helpful resources, or reach out to us at [email protected] if you have questions.