Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | April 21, 2025 | wbjournal.com BY MICA KANNER-MASCOLO WBJ Staff Writer H ealthcare expenditures throughout Massachu- setts soared to $78.1 billion in 2023, averaging $11,153 per resident. e year's total represented an 8.6% per-cap- ita increase from 2022, according to a report released in March by the Center for Health Information and Analysis. at rise in healthcare costs is unsus- tainable and requires bold and systemic solutions, CHIA Executive Director Lauren Peters said in a press release accompanying the report. While all races and ethnicities report- ed some degree of financial strain, the burdens were far from evenly distributed across the state's population. At 58.2%, more than half of Hispanic respondents reported healthcare affordability issues within the past 12 months, compared to 26.3% of Asian respondents and 39.2% of white respondents. Similar disparities emerged again when respondents were asked about their unmet health needs due to cost. e barriers to affordable and equi- table healthcare for the state's Latino communities are longstanding. A cohort of Central Massachusetts healthcare and community advocates for years have been working to tackle systemic barriers that keep Latinos from accessing physi- cal and mental healthcare. "e thought process is, 'We have to go to them,'" said Dr. Matilde Castiel, Worcester's commissioner of health and human services and founder of Worces- ter nonprofit Latin American Health Alliance. Addressing inequities through a multi-layered approach, these local leaders are working to close the language gap, advocate for cultural competency, and promote preventive care to best support the region's Latino community oen pushed to the margins. Economic divide Low-paying wages throughout the Latino community are a visible disad- vantage preventing equitable access to health care, said Castiel. In 2022, approximately 76% of Worcester County jobs were held by white employees, the same workers who accounted for more than 81% of all higher-wage jobs, according to the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Com- merce. On the other hand, Black and Hispanic/ Latino employees made up 17.3% of workers, yet represented more than 25% of all workers who earned less than $35,000 annually. Systemic issues like these exacerbate an already expensive and flawed health- care system, said Steve Kerrigan, presi- dent and CEO of Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center in Worcester. Social determinants of health perpetuate disparities in healthcare: limited access to healthy foods, unaffordable housing, discrimination, and chronic diseases all FOCUS HEALTH CARE & LIFE SCIENCES PHOTOS | EDD COTE Mounting costs As healthcare affordability disparities hit Hispanic communities the hardest, Central Mass. leaders are working to address inequities through cultural competency Dr. Matilde Castiel, Worcester's commissioner of health and human services play major roles in making health care less accessible to Latino people. "Ultimately, it comes to a cost component. And we provide care regardless of people's ability to pay, which we're proud of, but it still can seem like a big challenge to the patients," said Kerrigan. Kennedy Health Center has 18 com- munity health workers in Worcester, 12 of whom are Spanish speaking, who work with patients to explore support options to meet their basic needs, including cost of care outside the center, referrals for rent and housing, and em- ployment assistance. ese employees work particularly with the Latino Spanish-speaking popu- lation to address specific health dispar- ities, such as increased rates of diabetes and hypertension in the community. Having Spanish-speaking staff is sim- ply essential to providing effective health care and forging foundational provid- er-client relationships, said Manny Peña, a program and case manager at Resto- ration Recovery Center in Fitchburg and former case manager at LAHA. "e first thing I would advocate for is to have more bilingual people that Steve Kerrigan, president and CEO of Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center Hector Reyes House, a program within the Latin American Health Alliance, is a 25-bed residential substance-use treatment facility designed specifically to address healthcare disparities for Latino men.

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