Worcester Business Journal

16 Worcester Business Journal | April 29, 2024 | wbjournal.com P O W E R 1 0 0 H E A L T H C A R E Rachel Blessington Certified nurse midwife, founder & executive director Worcester Community Midwifery, in Worcester Employees: 4 Residence: Dudley Colleges: Assumption University, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences; Frontier Nursing University As outcomes for mothers and newborns worsen, Blessington is striving to revolu- tionize the way babies are born. Opening a birthing center may not sound mon- umental, but consider the red tape involved and you realize Blessington isn't just your average certified nurse midwife. Blessington opened her Worcester practice on James Street in the summer, though she's been practicing in Central Massachusetts for years. Now, patients can visit her in the office for prenatal and postnatal care along with routine women's healthcare services. But an outpatient clinic isn't the ultimate goal for Blessington, an area native and member of the 2024 Leadership Worcester cohort. She's working toward opening a birthing center where patients deliver, as an alternative to home or hospital birth. Massachusetts has just one other birth center now open, in Northampton, while 400 birth centers are operating across the U.S., according to Baystate Birth Coalition. Maternal mortality rates are increasing, creating an overall decline in outcomes for mothers and babies. UMass Memorial Health closed its labor and delivery unit in Leominster because patient volume is falling. Blessington advocates for more midwifery care for low-risk pregnancies to help reverse those trends, following the model in European countries with better birth outcomes. e requirements to open a birthing center are daunting for any provider, and a private practice like hers is seriously challenged by the cost and undertaking of it, from a licensing standpoint. Yet, she describes herself as too stubborn to quit. Championing changes to state regulations governing training, reimbursement from insurers, and birth center licensing, Blessington is doing everything in her power to make a Worcester birth center a reality. - E.M. Dominique Muldoon Co-chair, Saint Vincent Hospital Nurses Local Bargaining Unit Massachusetts Nurses Association Employees: 600 Saint Vincent nurses; 5,600 nurses and healthcare workers in MNA Region 2 Residence: Winchendon College: Mount Wachusett Community College Muldoon paid one of the highest prices in standing up for what she believed in: She lost her job. ough she lost her job as a nurse at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester this year, Muldoon is a force for Central Mass. hospital executives to reckon with. As the elected co-chair of the local bargaining unit for Saint Vincent nurses and member of the local MNA Board, Muldoon advocates for safer conditions at hospitals. Muldoon represents 600 Saint Vincent registered nurses and a total of 5,600 healthcare workers and registered nurses in the region, in the struggle between hospital administrators and the union over what constitutes safe nurse-to-patient ratios. With no state law regulating the matter, hospitals have ample freedom in setting staffing plans in most units. A labor shortage peaked during the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated a longstanding disagreement between hospitals and nurses on the matter, with Saint Vincent as ground zero over the last three years. Muldoon and colleagues led strikes from 2021 to 2022 against Saint Vincent parent company Tenet Healthcare of Texas. Aer more than 600 complaints were filed with regulators about safety and care conditions in January, Muldoon and seven other nurses were fired. In March, the MNA filed a lawsuit under the federal Whistleblower Protection Act, asking the plaintiffs be rehired to their former positions. Meanwhile, the Mass. Department of Public Health continues an investigation into patient conditions at Saint Vincent. Outside of Worcester, Muldoon and her MNA colleagues launched a coalition to oppose the closure of the labor and delivery unit at UMass Memorial HealthAl- liance-Clinton Hospital in Leominster in the fall of 2023. e DPH deemed it an essential service, which required UMass to develop a care plan for patients, even as the closure happened anyway. -E.M. Carolyn Jackson CEO Saint Vincent Hospital, in Worcester Employees: 1,600 Residence: Hopkinton Colleges: University of Delaware, Harvard Business School As the leader of the largest for-profit hospital system in Central Massachusetts and the region's second largest hospital, Jackson has been the focus of the ire of politicians and workers for nearly all of 2024, particularly the Massachusetts Nurses Association labor union. Aer the MNA filed more than 600 complaints against the hospital largely surrounding a lack of staffing in January, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health began an on-site investigation of the hospital. In March, the national accred- iting agency e Joint Commision said the hospital was at risk of losing its volun- tary accreditation, and later that month, eight nurses filed a lawsuit against Tenet claiming wrongful termination. In April, the National Labor Relations Board filed a formal complaint against Saint Vincent. Still, even as she remains the face of the conflict for Saint Vincent parent company Tenet Healthcare of Texas, Jackson has kept the 290-bed hospital moving forward. As leader of the Massachusetts market for Tenet, Jackson oversaw MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham and Natick as that hospital went through high executive turnover, including the sudden 2023 resignation of its then CEO. e turnover at MetroWest Medical Center appears to be settling, though, with Jackson and Tenet in July putting John Whitlock into the CEO role. In the last year, Saint Vincent upgraded its electronic health record system and integrated new pieces of equipment into its practices, including a CT simulation for radiation oncology. e hospital was named amongst Healthgrades' America's 100 Best Hospitals for Coronary Intervention Award in both 2023 and 2024. Outside of Saint Vincent, Jackson serves on the boards of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, Worcester Regional Research Bureau, the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association in Burlington, and the Dr. Lillian R. Goodman De- partment of Nursing at Worcester State University. - M.K.M. PHOTO | COURTESY OF WORCESTER COMMUNITY MIDWIFERY

• Cover