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'We had to:' UMass Memorial Health President and CEO says changes to healthcare were a 'must' to fight off COVID pandemic
COVID-19 brought on a lot of new challenges for people both in and out of healthcare. Things like mask wearing and social distancing became the norm. But surprising enough, the virus resulted in some positive changes. Changes to healthcare some never even imagined.
Now we use video interpreters all the time. But we also now became much more comfortable delivering care through video. So now, we can have a paramedic go into the home through our mobile integrated health program, do labs, do a physical exam on the patient, put an iv in, deliver fluid, deliver medication.
Dr. Eric Dickson | President and CEO, UMass Memorial Health
Managing Mental Illness in Pregnancy and Postpartum: What to Know
For women with, or at a risk for, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or other psychiatric conditions, managing mental health during pregnancy and postpartum presents unique challenges.
We have very clear data that tells us that if a pregnant or postpartum individual doesn’t get the treatment that they need, if they’re experiencing a mood or anxiety disorder, that can have a negative impact on themselves and on their babies.
Nancy Byatt, DO | Perinatal psychiatrist with the Women’s Mental Health at UMass Memorial Medical Center

UMass ALS Cellucci Fund Boston Marathon Team racing for a cure
John Kelly is no stranger to endurance events. The 53-year-old Worcester resident said he’s run “probably 20” marathons, most as part of multisport Ironman triathlons.

Four concrete ways Massachusetts can lower health care costs
Massachusetts’ skyrocketing health care costs are an urgent problem for every resident. Every one of us will need medical care. And every one of us will pay for medical care, through doctors’ bills, health insurance, or taxes that fund Medicare and Medicaid.
Physician assistants say they could help the primary care crisis. Will Mass. lawmakers agree?
The Massachusetts Association of PAs wants state legislators to make permanent COVID-era accommodations that eliminate the legal requirement for physician assistants to register a specific supervising physician with the state.
There’s more camaraderie between physicians and PAs, and less of that historical hierarchy. More and more, physicians are recognizing our value as partners in care and that has been incredibly validating.
Thea Nolan, Physician Assistant, Interventional Radiology
New Tablet-Based Tool Enhances Cognitive Screening in Primary Care
Primary care settings are witnessing a significant advancement in cognitive health screening with the introduction of Linus Health’s Core Cognitive Evaluation (CCE).
UMass Memorial Health President and CEO Eric Dickson reflects on 5 years since the start of the COVID pandemic
Local hospitals were filled quite literally to the brim with sick patients for months on end. Field hospitals even needed to be opened. Creating challenges some healthcare leaders never fathomed.
As I think about COVID, I think about how every health care system, how every governmental agency came together and worked together to solve, really, the biggest healthcare crisis of our time.
Dr. Eric Dickson, President and CEO of UMass Memorial Health

Sent Home To Heal, Patients Avoid Wait for Rehab Home Beds
After a patch of ice sent Marc Durocher hurtling to the ground, and doctors at UMass Memorial Medical Center repaired the broken hip that resulted, the 75-year-old electrician found himself at a crossroads.

Hospital at Home program assists new mothers, patients in need
Imagine recovering from a medical condition in the comfort of your own bed—no noisy beeping, no buzzing machines, no hospital roommates, and no midnight interruptions.
It is not uncommon for our medical centers to have up to 70 patients boarding in our ER department waiting for a bed. It’s not an experience we want for our loved ones or ourselves.
Constantinos Michaelidis | Medical Director of the Hospital at Home program

UMass digital hub provides peek into future of remote patient management
When the University of Massachusetts Memorial Health in Worcester opened its digital hub last fall, it provided a glimpse of what the future of remote care management could look like.
When we think about a digital hub, it’s a setting that locates clinical caregivers and digital medicine capabilities to provide better care for patients, whether they’re in the inpatient setting, the ambulatory setting, or at home. We’ve been trying to use digital strategies to help drive some of the more important system-level strategies that we have.
Eric Alper | M.D., Chief Quality Officer and Chief Informatics Officer
12 health systems back AI 'nutrition labels'
Originally launched as an open-source project, Applied Model Cards help health systems evaluate AI solutions more efficiently, simplifying the validation and testing process, according to a news release shared with Becker's.
America's Greatest Workplaces for Women 2025
Progress toward gender equity in the workplace continues even as challenges remain. From the lingering wage gap and unconscious biases to underrepresentation in executive roles and workplace harassment, women navigate a professional landscape that demands resilience and advocacy.