About us
Since 1965, the East Harlem Council for Human Services, Inc. has provided the highest quality of fully bilingual health and human services to the East Harlem community, through the leadership of a Board of Directors comprised predominantly of community residents and users of services. In 1974, EHCHS established the Boriken Health Center to address the tremendous health-related needs of El Barrio. Boriken's mission is to maintain excellence in
providing comprehensive medical, dental, health education and social services to the residents of East Harlem without regard to the individual patient's ability to pay.
East Harlem's 117,750 residents experience the highest asthma diagnosis rates in the nation, and incidence rates of HIV/AIDS, diabetes and heart disease which are among the highest in the country. Fifty-two percent of East Harlem residents are Latino, 36 percent are African American, seven percent are Caucasian, and two percent are persons of other races/ethnicities. Thirty seven percent of the residents of EHCHS's service area live below the poverty level; only 40 percent live above 200 percent of the poverty line.
The fully bilingual and culturally competent services which Boriken provides to this vibrantly diverse community are a vital resource for East Harlem’s most vulnerable residents. Boriken’s services include: adolescent health; adult medicine; asthma education and support services; comprehensive HIV-related education and outreach, counseling and testing, dental; family medicine; geriatrics; gynecology (including diagnostic colposcopy); nutrition; obstetrics; onsite laboratory; pediatrics; pharmacy (operated by private pharmacist onsite); podiatry; pulmonology, and social work and transportation.
