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By Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone

They say if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything, and I got a firsthand lesson in that two weeks ago when a bout of the shingles laid me low. It got into my eye and my ear, froze up the right side of my face, and put me in the hospital for the better part of a week. Now I’m wearing an eyepatch and doing occupational therapy to get my facial muscles back in working order.

Yet the thing that became crystal clear when I was going through the worst of it was how lucky I am. It’s a time of year where we’re supposed to count our blessings, and I’ve been counting mine like never before. First off, I’ve got family and friends there for me. You know how some people say so-and-so is my rock? I’ve got an entire mountain. To have that when you need it most is a wonderful thing.

I also received top notch care at Cambridge Hospital. I’ve got a great health plan and it gave me access to nurses, doctors and staff who helped put me back on my feet. I cannot say enough good things about the care they gave me, but a lot of people do not have the good fortune to be in my position. Many people have plans that would leave them on the hook for a hefty bill for that kind of care, and the stress, missed care, and costs that pile up for those without coverage are enormous. It pains me to think of what happens to someone who has fallen on desperate times or is homeless when they get hit with a severe case of the shingles or any serious illness.

There is nothing more fundamental to quality of life than your health. It’s something we realized when we made community wellness a priority in the 2000s and when we put together the comprehensive “Wellbeing of Somerville Report” in 2017. In fact, that report leads off with an Arabic proverb: “One who has health has hope and one who has hope, has everything.” In this holiday season, we should recognize the role we can play as a community in delivering the greater hope than comes with better health. We do a lot, but it is always a work in progress.

Top among health efforts, we’re fighting the opioid epidemic via City, School, and Police initiatives. Other City programs like Somerville Cares About Prevention attempt to steer our youth away from the cycle of addiction before it begins. Our police and first responders work the front lines, attempting to get those battling addiction to the support and treatment they need. We attempt to chip away at this devastating societal problem, but it’s a fight that rages on.

Also, according to our Wellbeing Report, the rate of health insurance in Somerville is 95.5%. While that’s better than the national average of 91.2%, it’s still chilling to consider what that means for the 4.5% of people who lack coverage. Many are people weighing their chances of getting ill against the cost of insurance. Yet I can testify how you can be in perfect health until one day you are not. That is an awful gamble.

I support the federal government pursuing Medicare-for-All and the state government instituting a single-payer system in the absence of federal action, but we need to recognize the gaps in healthcare access at the local level and close them as best we can while we’re waiting for a better system to emerge. Recent tragedy at Somerville Hospital has turned our attention to that institution and to emergency communications, and it is essential that the issues raised by that heartbreaking loss of life are addressed. We also need to address other gaps in care/treatment. Who is most at risk and how do we do right by them?

We know from the data that the poverty rate among our senior population increased slightly in the earlier part of this decade, and we need to anticipate the health issues that might arise from that. From the same data, we also know far too many children (23%) and particularly children in households with a single female parent (43%) fall below the poverty line.

We have steadily increased the social outreach inside our school system to help address these systemic issues, attempting to make sure children get the basic healthcare and nutrition they need to thrive. Sadly, the reality is too many children in our city do not get three solid meals per day. We have a backpack food program for the weekends and offer free breakfast and lunch through the summer at many of our recreational facilities to make sure children in Somerville don’t go hungry when school is out of session.

These are just some of the major health issues on our agenda. But in short, sometimes life is hard, and the goal of government of, by and for the people should be to make it easier when it gets hard. It is work that must be done, that is constantly undertaken and that never truly is finished. So, count the blessings you have, and if you see a way for us to help, no matter how small, bring it to our attention. Most of all, if you need help, do not hesitate to reach out to city government. We can’t fix everything, but our mission is to help as many as we can as best as we can.

And here’s to wishing everyone health and hope not just in the holiday season, but in every season.