Worcester Business Journal

6 Worcester Business Journal | September 4, 2023 | wbjournal.com C E N T R A L M A S S I N B R I E F V E R B AT I M $4M donation "My mother's generous gift through the Mary T. Cocaine Trust is a testa- ment to her deep love and gratitude for the city of Worcester. She firmly believed in providing opportunities for others to achieve the American Dream, and these funds will make a significant impact in supporting education, economic security, and assistance to immigrants and refugees in our community." Harry Kokkinis, executive chairman of Worcester manufacturer Table Talk Pies and son of the late Mary Cocaine, announcing her $4-million donation to the Greater Worcester Community Foundation. Pictured is Cocaine. AI weight-loss tool "Our digital tools are underpinned by our unique and proprietary dataset collected across 80 countries. We are fully committed to giving our clinics the best AI weight-management tools to strengthen their care delivery and propel the Allurion Program to new levels of effectiveness." Shantanu Gaur, founder and CEO of Natick weight-loss tech firm Allurion Technologies, announcing a new generative AI technology to its clinical offerings in the form of an artificial intelligence-powered health coach Gardner millions "In the last three years, we have made unprecedented investments in our city and our infrastructure, and we've started to see the return on that investment tenfold." Gardner Mayor Michael Nicholson announcing the City received $1.65 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for projects and social service programs, including the demolition to two properties for future developments BY ISABEL TEHAN WBJ Staff Writer V incent Strully Jr., founder of The New England Center for Children and CEO of the autism education organization for 48 years, has retired from the position and will step into an advisor role. He is succeeded by Jessica Sassi. "Helping children with autism has been my life's work for more than 48 years, and I feel confident that NECC will continue to grow in its excellence under Dr. Sassi's leadership," Strully said in an Aug. 24 press release from NECC. "I am proud of the accomplishments NECC has achieved, and the thousands of children and families whose lives we have transformed. I have worked closely with Dr. Sassi for many years and know she has the skills and experience to steer NECC to a bright future. Her background in research enables her to lead from a unique perspective, and it is something from which our NECC students and staff will benefit." The leadership transition comes after a three-year succession plan in which Sassi was prepared to take Strully's position, according to the press release. Sassi is the second-ever CEO of the organization. She was previously executive director of NECC's Southborough campus and became executive advisor in 2020. Before joining the organization, Sassi was a clinical specialist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. "For nearly two decades, through my work as both a clinician and an administrator, I have had the opportunity to work alongside and learn from some of the best researchers and teachers in the autism and behavior analysis fields. I'm proud to be part of an organization that offers premier educational services to children with autism, and I'm committed to holding us to the highest standards. Our commitment to staff professional development and forming the next generation of educators is key to achieving our vision of a world where autism is not a barrier," Sassi said in the press release. Strully established the first NECC program in 1975, and since then has built from there to include a day school, a residential program, a classroom model for use within public schools, a consulting practice, a research center, onsite graduate degree programs, and a technology division to develop the center's curriculum to learners with autism far and wide. NECC has $120 million in annual revenue, according to GuideStar 2022 data. It has 1,200 employees and serves more than 12,000 students in 13 countries. Founder of New England Center for Children retires as CEO Vincent Strully Jr. W Jessica Sassi B R I E F S UMass Memorial reinstates caregiver mask mandate amid COVID surge UMass Memorial Health is once again requiring all caregivers at its healthcare settings to wear masks during patient encounters. "We have continued to see a dramatic increase in the number of COVID-19 positive employees over the past two weeks, which has led to exposures of both fellow caregivers and patients. In response to this, as a protective mea- sure for our staff and patients, effective immediately we are requiring mandatory caregiver masking for all patient encoun- ters in all licensed clinical areas," said an Aug. 24 memo to UMass Memorial Staff. UMass Memorial lied its masking requirement in patient-facing settings in May, making them optional in all settings besides the emergency department and the oncology clinics, bone marrow trans- plant unit, oncology infusion center, and with transplant patients. Masks remain optional in common ar- eas including the cafeteria, but the memo encouraged all caregivers to resume mask wearing amid the increased spread. Community Healthlink's shuttered programs need 8-12 months to reopen e Community Healthlink substance abuse programs that have been closed since April will need eight to 12 more months to reopen, according to a letter from the Worcester Commissioner of Health and Human Services Dr. Matilde Castiel to City Manager Eric Batista. In June, the Worcester City Council PHOTOS | COURTESY OF NEW ENGLAND CENTER FOR CHILDREN

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