Meet Our Staff: Dr. Juan Carlos Parra

“Everyone deserves to smile.” That’s the reason Dr. Juan Carlos Parra decided to practice dentistry.

Juan Carlos Parra comes from Bogota, Columbia and in 8^th grade his smile was far from perfect. “It was a horrible smile. The panoramic x-ray of my teeth was pretty awful,” says Parra. After 3 years of orthodontic treatment, Juan Carlos knew what he wanted to do with his life: give people the perfect smile. Parra enrolled in Bosque University where he decided on oral surgery as his major. After completing his Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree, Dr. Parra worked at a hospital in Bogota before coming to the United States of America.

Having received his dental degree in a foreign country, Dr. Parra’s options for where he could practice dental medicine was limited. He decided to apply for a position with a community health center- and quickly found out it was a special office. “When I found out Geiger Gibson Community Health Center was the first health center in the country, I thought that was very cool”, Dr. Parra says. The quality of work, communication and the comradery at the health center are three things that stood out to Dr. Parra when applying for a position and those qualities still ring true today.

Dr. Parra thinks that the passion for dentistry that he and his colleagues share is just one reason that patients should visit Geiger Gibson Community Health Center. When asked what his number one oral health tip is he replies, “parents need to demonstrate good dental health care habits, like brushing and flossing, to their children.” Dr. Parra is an avid New England sports fan and the Boston Bruins are his favorite team. In his free time, he enjoys running and spending time with his wife and French Poodle.

To make an appointment with Dr. Parra at Geiger Gibson Community Health Center, please call 617-288-1140. Geiger Gibson Community Health Center offers walk-in medical services, optometry, and a retail pharmacy. The health center is accessible by public transportation (MBTA Red Line & Bus) and staff speak English, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

 

 

Fresh Truck at Harbor on Thursdays

The Fresh Truck, a mobile food market selling affordable fruits and vegetables, now visits Neponset Health Center and Geiger Gibson Community Health Center on Thursdays. The weekly market is open to the community and the Fresh Truck accepts cash, credit, and EBT!

The Fresh Truck stops at Geiger Gibson Community Health Center from 11:00AM-12:00PM setting up shop at Neponset Health Center from 12:30PM-2:00PM. Check out pictures from the Fresh Truck and program flyer below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harbor Welcomes New Dental Director

Matthew Horan, DMD has joined Harbor Health Services, Inc. (HHSI) as the new Corporate Dental Director. Dr. Horan comes to HHSI with almost 10 years of experience in oral health care at the community health center level. Prior to joining HHSI, Dr. Horan was the Director of Oral Health at the Boston Public Health Commission, DotHouse Health, and Codman Square Health Center. In addition, Dr. Horan was a dentist with Codman Square Health Center.

Dr. Horan will be overseeing Dental Operations at Geiger Gibson Community Health Center, Harbor Community Health Center-Plymouth, Harbor Community Health Center- Hyannis, and Ellen Jones Community Dental Center in Harwich.

Dr. Horan received his Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine and his currently pursuing a Master’s of Public Health degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

 

 

Fresh Truck Schedule at Harbor

Starting April 27^th, the Fresh Truck will be making stops at Geiger Gibson Community Health Center and Neponset Health Center every Wednesday! The Fresh Truck is a mobile food market that sells fruits, vegetables, and herbs from a converted school bus. With each stop the Fresh Truck makes, community  gains access to affordable and nutritious foods. 

Check out the schedule below and plan your visit to one of the weekly stops at our Dorchester health centers!

 

Anger: Its Origins, Uses, and Abuses

Anger is about fear.  It’s about losing control or having no control, or being controlled by others, or by circumstances – by the universe, essentially – in a way that one cannot tolerate.  This can be as simple as getting cut off, rudely, by yet another driver who gets away with it, or being stuck in a traffic jam for the third time that day.

It can be as complex and painful as losing one’s job with no prospects for another, with all the instability this can bring not just to oneself but those one cares about.  Anger is about injustice, about thoughts on how that same universe – your world – just shouldn’t be the way it is, or how there should at least be a simple way to change it.  Anger loves simple ways.

There is a strong element of sadness at work, here – simple solutions that work tend to be rare – but the angry tend to deny this.  Anger is about not thinking too much, or at all;  it is much more about ignoring complications and nuances and involved solutions that might require time and compromise.  Anger has no patience for all that.  Anger demands a clear target and simple answers and actions.  Anger likes to punish, to show the world who’s boss.  In the moment, anger can be extremely powerful, and almost always takes control – or the semblance of control – while the world backs off, often in fear.  This control is always fleeting.

In boxing, as in many sports, a common winning strategy is to get your opponent angry, get them unthinking and unobservant and distracted, with an inflated sense of their own power – which might give you a winning opening.  In politics, you can win votes by appealing to people’s anger – to their worst fears and the sadness they deny, to their desperate need for simple answers and someone to punish, to their need to regain control (or something that resembles control), so they can restore justice to their respective universes, or at least justice as they see it.  Elections can be won in this way, but if you win, both you and the world better watch out.  The universe, as it really operates, always catches up.

John Dabrowski,  LICSW
Neponset Health Center
Geiger Gibson Community Health Center
http://www.hhsi.us