Human connection is essential for all of us. In fact, social isolation can be as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and can lead to other serious health problems. COVID-19 restrictions and quarantine measures over the past year and a half have impacted everyone: individuals had to decrease social gatherings, limit visits with loved ones, and adjust to an overall lack of connectivity. Although the drastic changes were difficult for everyone, they were especially hard hitting for older adults, and exacerbated the already existing social isolation crisis they face. 

The Shrewsbury (Mass.) Surgery Center performed its first outpatient spine procedure, the center said Oct. 25. 

UMass Memorial Health neurological surgeon Arno Sungarian, MD, performed the outpatient discectomy, which took less than one hour. 

October 21, 2021 - Hospitals and health systems continue to face an overwhelming amount of cyberattacks, spoofing and phishing incidents, and breaches resulting from unauthorized email access.

BOSTON — Late October and it’s still 70+ degrees in central Massachusetts. At Worcester’s Elm Park, it was a scene out of the ‘Before Times.’ Residents fed ducks, pushed strollers and relaxed on benches. What they didn’t do was don masks.

But across the street at the Price Chopper, the continuing reality. With Worcester entering the second month of an indoor mask mandate, shoppers had no choice but to cover mouths and noses.

Proceeds will establish the Worcester Health Equity Fund

he United States is entering its second flu season in the COVID-19 pandemic. The convergence of the two could pose a risk to those infected, and to hospital capacity. Dr. Robert Klugman with UMass Memorial Medical Center and the UMass Medical School joined GBH’s All Things Considered with Arun Rath to discuss. What follows is a lightly edited transcript.

After the most mild flu season on record in 2020, the virus could come back early and hit harder this year, some doctors are predicting as they urge people to get a flu shot.

“The worry is that we are out of isolation and we didn’t get some of the natural immunity from last year, so we could see a surge in flu from last year,” said Dr. Robert Klugman, the medical director of employee health at UMass Memorial Health.

HOPKINTON, Mass. - Hopkinton High School is the first school in Massachusetts to get state approval to drop the in-school mask mandate and a local pediatrician is weighing in on the decision.

In order to meet the state's threshold for removing masks, at least 80% of all students and staff at the school have to be vaccinated.

HFMA President and CEO Joe Fifer interviews Sergio Melgar, CFO at UMass Memorial Health, about his history with health systems in peril and what he thinks could come out of pandemic-era changes.