Health

6 HE ALTH • Summer 2019 B r i e f s Continued from Page 5 FSU signs community college nursing deals Fitchburg State University has signed nursing-degree agreements with community colleges in Worcester, Gardner, Bedford and Fall River. The agreements guarantee students a spot at Fitchburg State's bachelor's nursing program and is aimed at help- ing ensure more of the state's nurses have bachelor's degrees . Fitchburg State's agreements will help students at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Middlesex Community College in Bedford and Bristol Community College in Fall River. The agreements waive application fees and essay requirements for students. ConvenientMD building Westborough clinic ConvenientMD, a New Hampshire outpatient medical care chain, is build- ing a new location on Route 9 in Westborough. The 5,000-square-foot facility will replace what was once a Burger King at the intersection of Lyman Street, and will be joined by a Starbucks and a new Burger King. Permitting approval was given late last year. ConvenientMD, which opened its first clinic in 2012, is building a facility with two procedure rooms and diag- nostic labs to allow clinicians to draw and test blood on site. ConvenientMD has two Central Massachusetts locations, in Bellingham and Framingham. It has more than two dozen locations across much of Eastern Massachusetts, as well as Maine and New Hampshire. Join the fight for Alzheimer's first survivor! SEPTEMBER 15 | 100 NORTH PARKWAY | WORCESTER, MA REGISTER TODAY! act.alz.org/Worcester Join Us! Save the date for the Worcester #Walk2EndALZ Kickoff Event! Tuesday, July 23 | 5:30 - 7:30 pm | The Pavilion at the Beer Garden Drew Barrymore partners with Marlborough firm Another Marlborough medical device manufacturer is partnering with a celebrity to help market a new device intended to tone and strengthen and tone the abs, arms, and buttocks. Hollywood actress Drew Barrymore is now part of BTL Industries' market- ing campaign for the EMSCULPT, a non-invasive high-intensity focused electromagnetic device the company says uses powerful muscle contractions to strengthen and tone muscles. Barrymore said she uses the device to improve her fitness regimen after giving birth to her children. "A little over a month post-treat- ment, I can visibly see the results and can tell a difference in my workouts – I feel that my core is much more engaged, improving my workouts and motivating me to push myself even further," she said. Hologic, based in Marlborough, has partnered with several women celebri- ties in the past to market its medical devices, including sportscaster Erin Andrews, singer Kristin Chenoweth and singer Sheryl Crow. GWCF grants $187K for healthcare access The Greater Worcester Community Foundation granted $187,000 to 16 agencies to expand healthcare access in Greater Worker. from a community health fund are getting help in improv- ing access to health care in Worcester. The money came from GWCF's Fallon/OrNda Community Health Fund, which was established in 1996 with an endowment gift of $4 million when the Fallon Foundation sold Saint Vincent Hospital to OrNda Healthcorp, which was bought thereaf- ter by Tenet Healthcare of Dallas. This year's recipients were the Boys & Girls Club of Worcester; the CASA Project; Catholic Charities Worcester County; Children's Friend; Dismas House of Central Massachusetts; Family Health Center of Worcester; Girls, Inc. of Worcester; HOPE Coalition; Living in Freedom Together; Net of Compassion; Pathway of Change; Pernet Family Health Service; Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts; St. Anne's Free Medical Program; Worcester Youth Center Inc.; and YMCA of Central Massachusetts. Boston Scientific launches irregular heartbeat study Boston Scientific has begun a trial to compare the safety and effectiveness of the next generation of one of its f lag- ship atrial fibrillation devices. The 36-month trial includes 1,600 enrolled patients at 130 global sites with non-valvular atrial fibrillation who will receive the Marlborough medical device company's Watchman FLX left atrial appendage device or oral anticoagulant drugs to reduce the risk of stroke related to atrial fibrilla- tion, a type of irregular heartbeat. The trial will evaluate whether the device can replace commonly used drugs for long-term stroke risk reduc- tion in patients with atrial fibrillation. The Watchman device has already been implanted in 80,000 patients. Biotech fund to provide $250K for startups The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center is launching a new program for investments of up to $1 million go to promising life science startups in regions outside of the Boston cluster. Individual investments in the orga- nization's new Seed Fund will be up to $250,000 to companies in Worcester, Springfield, Pittsfield, Amherst and Lowell. The fund has $1 million total to give in its first year. MCPHS acquires Main Street building for $7M MCPHS University has purchased a 43,000-square-foot Main Street build- ing in Worcester for nearly $7 million. The building, known locally as The Lofts, is a five-story mixed-use proper- ty at 379 Main St. formerly owned by property management firm SJ Realty. The building includes 55 single units mostly occupied by MCPHS students who previously rented from SJ Realty. The building would join a cluster of other MCPHS facilities in the Main Street area, including residential and academic buildings on Foster Street and another facility on Norwich Street. Sturbridge home health agency owner sentenced Hellen Kiago of Sturbridge, convict- ed of stealing $2.5 million from MassHealth on May 15, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Kiago and her company, Lifestream Healthcare Alliance, were ordered to pay $130,000 in fines, with the amount to be paid back to MassHealth will be determined later. Kiago will serve 18 months in prison with the remaining balance suspended for a year. "This defendant stole millions of dollars from MassHealth, patients, and taxpayers," Attorney General Maura Healey said. "Medicaid fraud puts the state's healthcare resources for our most vulnerable at risk." Actress Drew Barrymore with celebrity doctor Paul Jarrod Frank, who uses the EMSCULPT device on clients

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