Mass General Brigham has partnered with an immigrant organization in an effort to improve community health in Chelsea.

The Bridge to Health/Puente a la Salud initiative got underway Wednesday for the opening of the Mass General Brigham and La Colaborativa partnership — which included a clinic, as well as a food pantry. Hundreds of participants lined up around the block at the La Colaborativa Survival Center at 63 Sixth St.

“We are thrilled to launch this new initiative with our longtime community partners at La Colaborativa,” said Dr. Elsie Taveras, the chief community health and health equity officer for Mass General Brigham.

“This initiative will bring preventive health services and chronic disease programming, paired with the social risk mitigation offered by La Colaborativa’s extensive team, to improve health outcomes and promote equity in Chelsea and the neighboring communities,” Taveras continued.

The collaboration seeks to tackle health issues specific to the Chelsea community and is not a substitute for full-spectrum primary care services, according to a statement issued ahead of the program’s opening.

The first phase of the program specifically keys in on cardiometabolic disease, which includes things like heart attacks, strokes and others that the collaborators described in a statement as “a major contributor to health disparities and a leading cause of premature mortality in historically underserved communities like Chelsea.”

“This collaboration signifies a new model of addressing the root causes of health disparities in our community,” said Gladys Vega, La Colaborativa’s executive director. “By providing our residents with this new, holistic resource in an accessible, trusted location, we can bring to fruition a future where all residents, regardless of race or income, can live healthy, prosperous lives.”

This phase will include screenings for hypertension and diabetes, as well as providing related interventions and educational resources; nutrition counseling including through cooking classes; adult vaccinations including for COVID-19 and the flu; and “social risk mitigation,” which includes prescription access assistance and integration with ongoing La Colaborativa’s “programs to address broader social determinants of health, including innovative housing stability, economic mobility, and youth empowerment programs that lay a foundation of stability for healthy lives.”

Hundreds of people line the street for food as La Colaborativa launches it’s Community Health Initiative on Wednesday. (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)
The produce stand as La Colaborativa launches it’s Community Health Initiative on Wednesday. (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)

The ribbon is cut on the food pantry as La Colaborativa launches it’s Community Health Initiative on Wednesday. (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)