Suzor has sheltered more than a dozen children. She’s among a legion of foster parents who toil in obscurity, opening their hearts and homes to some of the state’s most vulnerable kids.

“They are just so little, so injured, and you really want to wrap them in your arms and keep them all safe,” Suzor said.

But instead of doing everything possible to assist foster parents like Suzor, the state has done little to lighten their load, and in many ways has made the work even tougher.

Some 2,000 families have stopped accepting foster children in the past five years — almost as many as the total number of foster families currently in the system. The departures have further strained the longstanding gap between available foster homes and the thousands of abused and neglected kids who need a safe haven.

When Marie retired more than two decades ago, she decided to spend her days volunteering. But then she got sick and wasn't able to continue, which was frustrating.

UMass Memorial Medical Center, the region’s trusted academic medical center, recently partnered with HealthLoop, the leading patient engagement software solution, to support patients receiving total joint surgery. UMass Memorial’s fellow-ship trained physicians have been at the forefront in identifying quality of care and patient satisfaction best practices as part of a national academic task force.

Amy and Joseph Loud were eagerly anticipating the birth of their second son, still four weeks away, on June 14, 2017. Unlike the previous precarious pregnancy with their then 6-year-old son, Luke, this pregnancy was “textbook perfect the whole time,” Mr. Loud, 36, said.

Bringing cheer: New England Patriots players visit patients at Worcester hospital - Worcester Mag

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Worcester has not only had to deal with record snow fall it also has seen a widespread reporting of the flu and other infectious diseases lately. Richard Ellison, MD, hospital epidemiologist, and Michael Hirsh, MD, chief of pediatric surgery and pediatric trauma, discussed the widespread cases of the flu and other infectious diseases, including outbreaks of the measles with the Telegram & Gazette.