The Chelsea City Planning Board approved a minor modification permitting La Colaborativa to convert an existing conference room at its Arlington Street location into a small exam room and a consultation/teaching space for a community health program run with Mass General Brigham.

Gladys Vega, identified as president of La Colaborativa, and Priya Serene Gupta, a physician and medical director for community clinical programs at Mass General Brigham, described the proposal. Gupta said the program — which she named “Bridge to Health” — brings preventive services into the community where people already access La Colaborativa services. “The goal of the program is to to not actually bring clinical care but preventative services out into the community where people live and work,” Gupta said. She said the planned build‑out is internal only (converting a conference room to a small exam room and consultation space) and would include adding one sink for clinical handwashing; it is not intended to replace care at the nearby Chelsea Health Center urgent‑care facility.

Applicants said the space will be used primarily for screening and counseling (blood‑pressure checks, nutrition counseling, vaccine catch‑ups tied to job readiness, group teaching and individual consultations). The board treated the work as a minor interior modification; members asked questions about staffing, privacy, and whether vaccinations or clinical escalations would be routed to the nearby health center or emergency care. Gupta and Mass General Brigham staff said the intent is to meet people where they already receive community services and to provide preventative and enabling services, not to operate an urgent care clinic.

The board voted to classify and approve the change as a minor modification and instructed staff to process the minor‑mod paperwork. The applicants were told to obtain any required building permits for the internal work and to continue coordination with public‑health partners for clinical protocols.