A new technique is helping doctors at UMass Memorial Medical Center treat men with prostate cancer and improve their quality of life.

UMass began performing the robotic Retzius-sparing prostatectomy within the last three months, but urology specialist Dr. Igor Sorokin says the technology has been around for a few years and first became popular in Europe.

Worcester Academy sophomore Justin Mohaghegh of Holden tested positive for COVID-19 in January. Before getting back to playing his sports — basketball and golf — he had to complete the school’s five-stage protocol.

It's a process familiar to all Worcester Academy student-athletes who contract the coronavirus.

Mindfulness apps are ubiquitous. But mindfulness and mindfulness meditation, a form of meditation that focuses on present moment experiences, existed long before smartphones arrived on the scene, and have been used to soothe humans in stressful times well before COVID-19.

Ginny Wholley, a certified mindfulness-based stress reduction instructor at UMass Memorial Health Care Center for Mindfulness, defines mindfulness as an awareness that comes from the practice of paying attention with a kind and non-judgmental attitude. 

Central Massachusetts has not seen a drastic spike in COVID-19 cases since the state started reopening and for residents hoping things go back to normal soon, it's good news. 

But UMass Memorial Health Care CEO, Dr. Eric Dickson, says the region isn't out of the woods yet. 

"Our biggest concern now is the UK variant that is clearly in central Massachusetts and on the rise" he said. 

As the Commonwealth of Massachusetts prepares to enter the next phase of the reopening plan on Monday, health care leaders from throughout the state play a major role in Governor Baker's decision making process.

FOR IMMEDIATE  RELEASE

Becomes second organization in Worcester to pledge to redirect one percent of its investment portfolio toward community investment.

The personal stories began taking shape a year ago, backdropped by an unfolding pandemic.

There was much to tell. Stories of heartache, of illness, of death. Stories of changed routines, of working from home, of no school. 

Before long, as weeks turned to months, the stories had to be reworked and updated.

It was a press briefing a year ago on Sunday which started it all.

In an interview March 14, 2020, City Manager Ed Augustus said, "Things are literally changing by the hour. We're continuing to monitor those situations, guidance from the state and federal government, as well as folks who are being tested."

The City had just confirmed it's first case of coronavirus. Thousands would follow in Worcester, millions worldwide.

There was a time when it was possible for the average resident to not know anyone who died from, or even came down with, the COVID-19 virus. 

Not anymore. Few of us remain who don't know someone who simply had to isolate for a few weeks with mild symptoms, or someone who spent time in the hospital, or someone who had it with no symptoms at all. Or someone who died. A grandparent. A cousin. An in-law.