Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | December 25, 2023 | Worcester Business Journal 17 Happy Holidays! #ICBusinessBanking | Insured by NCUA This holiday season let's cherish the moments that matter most - the joy of giving, the warmth of togetherness, and the spirit of gratitude. Thank you for being part of our credit union community. Your trust and support make our journey meaningful. On behalf of the entire IC team, we extend our heartfelt wishes for a joyous holiday season and a prosperous New Year. May the coming year bring you success, good health, and continued financial well-being. We're with you. Dickson citing the difficult healthcare environment as a reason for the can- cellation. UMass Memorial Health is the largest employer in Central Mass. with 15,500 employees and 2,100 physi- cians. It operates locations in Worces- ter, Marlborough, Leominster, Clinton, and Southbridge. e system just closed on Sept. 23 the maternity ward at HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital in Leominster, over the loud objections of local and state officials. After letting CEO go, Heywood Hospital stops construction on $29M surgical pavilion Less than a month aer removing its CEO, Heywood Hospital in Gardner paused construction on its surgical pavil- ion, amid negotiations to better position the facility financially and legally. "Construction of the new state-of- the-art surgical platform is critically important to our community and to our health system. However, we must proceed responsibly and cautiously in light of the challenging healthcare environment in order to protect the investments made by all partners and members of our community. e stability of our healthcare system and financial viability of this project is in the best interest of our community," Tom Sullivan, co-CEO of Heywood Health- care, said in a June 26 press release from the hospital. e Heywood system has two hospitals: its main 134-bed facility in Gardner and Athol Hospital, with 25 beds. Additionally, Heywood Health operates Heywood Medical Group, with an 86-bed mental health and substance abuse recovery facility in Petersham. e current surgical facility at Heywood remains operational, but its infrastructure is aging, according to the press release. On June 7, Heywood made public its removal of President and CEO Winfield Brown from that role. He was replaced by co-CEOs in what the hospital called an untraditional model to address the changing healthcare landscape amid a need to continue meeting community's goals. Originally, the pavilion was set to include six operating rooms, with the goal of supporting local and regional access to surgical services. e hospital announced in March 2022 that con- struction was set to begin on the pavil- ion. At that time, the estimated finish date for the expansion was fall 2023. In January, Heywood's planned merger with UMass Memorial Health fell through, which would have given the hospital increased access to UMass Memorial capital. Framingham nurses seek to join labor union Nurses at Framingham Union Hos- pital have requested voluntary recog- nition of their labor union in a Sept. 12 letter to MetroWest Medical Center CEO John Whitlock from e Fram- ingham Union Hospital RN Organizing Committee. e nurses in the letter propose a neutral third party be selected to receive the union cards and verify that a ma- jority of eligible nurses are in favor of unionization within 10 days. e nurses requested a response from Whitlock by 1 p.m. Sept. 12. e nurses intended to file petitions with the Na- tional Labor Relations Board should the request be unmet. ere are approximately 280 nurses at FUH. Central Mass. healthcare providers are struggling with shortages of both doctors and nurses. W PHOTO | WBJ FILE

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