Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | May 19, 2025 | Worcester Business Journal 9 H E A LT H C A R E P OW E R 1 0 0 Chelsey Patriss Executive director Health Equity Partnership of North Central Massachusetts, in Westminster Employees: 1 full-time; 4 part-time Residence: Westminster College: Marist College Patriss had never imagined herself in a public health career when she joined the Health Equity Partnership, but here she is, 11 years later, standing at the head of a nonprofit becoming all the more important in a region where healthcare options are declining. Patriss advocates on all system levels for collaborative solutions to public health concerns. Since October, she has been participating in the state's Nashoba Valley working group, assembled by Gov. Maura Healey, to address the needs of the region aer the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer. As the Health Equity Partnership's longest-serving staff member, Patriss heavily values building trusting relationships to sustain the organization's partnerships with more than 240 governnments and health agencies. In 2024, Patriss led the nonprofit as it began a mas- sive transportation equity project aimed at growing North Central Mass.' mobility options, receiving a $250,000 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. In April, the initiative launched a regional coordinating council to integrate transporta- tion services of participating towns and social service agencies. - M.K.M. Amie Shei President & CEO The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts, in Worcester Employees: 4 Colleges: Amherst College, Harvard University Shei addresses the nuanced and complicated need for health equity by using an intersectional and holistic approach as she tirelessly advocates for those who don't have a seat at the table. In February, she was honored as Massachusetts Woman of the Year 2025 by USA Today. For five years she has served as CEO for e Health Foundation, an organization funding nonprofits working to enhance the health of individuals working and living in 81 cities and towns throughout Central Massachusetts. At the end of 2023, the foundation held $87.5 million in assets, while granting out $2.8 million. Shei travels around the state to advocate for equal access to health care, whether it's speaking at RIZE Massachusetts' Together for Hope Conference or Mas- sachusetts eHealth Institute's panel on health equity, or meeting with Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey. Knowing tackling health equity takes a village, Shei facilitates innovative partnerships between e Health Foundation and other local organizations. In Decem- ber, the foundation collaborated with the Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts to launch an urban mushroom-growing farm to combat food insecurity, and in February, it paired with Jamaica Plain-based Community Servings to launch a medical- ly tailored food delivery program. - M.K.M. Rozanna Penney President & CEO Heywood Healthcare, in Gardner Employees: 1,756 Residence: Sharon Colleges: Boston College, Univer- sity of New England, UMass Boston Penney has turned around the sinking ship that was Heywood Healthcare and today, the once-floundering system is breathing a sigh of relief. For nearly the past year and a half, Penney has been leading Heywood through its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which was initiated mere months aer she assumed her executive roles in summer 2023 aer the sudden oust- ing of the system's previous CEO. In September, Hey- wood announced its stand-alone exit from bankruptcy with Penney reporting the system had successfully re- structured its debt and out-of-market contracts, which included $31.3 million owed to its top 20 creditors. In the midst of its bankruptcy proceedings, Penney helped negotiate new contracts with the healthcare sys- tem's nurses represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association labor union aer long-standing friction re- garding staffing levels and dormant wages. In February 2024, Heywood agreed to increase its wages by 7-8% through September of this year. At the time, there were 264 MNA nurses working within the system. Outside the hospital walls, Penney works to over- see the health of both the region and the state overall, serving on the boards of directors of the United Way of North Central Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association. - M.K.M. "Leadership is about showing up with steadiness when others feel uncertain [and] being transparent even when the answers are hard." - Rozanna Penney, Heywood Healthcare Kurt Isaacson President & CEO Spectrum Health Systems, in Westborough Employees: 1,060 Residence: North Grafton Colleges: University of New Haven As Central Massachusetts continues to reel from the impacts of the ongoing opioid epidemic, Isaacson has leveraged his position as the head of Spectrum to pro- vide services to as many patients as possible in as many locations as possible. e healthcare organization is the sixth largest human services nonprofit in the region and generated $123.60 million in revenue in fiscal 2024. Over the past year, Isaacson has overseen Spectrum as it has opened several new facilities in addition to the organization's 40+ inpatient facilities, outpatient cen- ters, residential programs, and peer recovery locations. Aer purchasing a building in Worcester's Main South neighborhood in 2023, Spectrum is in the process of fully renovating the location to hold two outpatient pro- grams, further expanding the organization's footprint into an area of the city in great need. Increasing access outside of Central Mass., Spectrum has purchased a 56,000-square-foot facility in Lowell to provide further treatment support to yet another high-need location. In an attempt to streamline access to care and centralize operations, Isaacson led the relocation of Spectrum's corporate headquarters from Worcester to a new 38,000-square-foot facility in Westborough next to its 11,000-square-foot admissions center. - M.K.M. Michael London Founder & CEO Uwill, in Natick Employees: 78 full time Residence: Needham Colleges: Babson College, Boston University London has mastered growing a tech company better than almost every other company in the U.S. Between 2020 and 2023, he has grown his mental health and wellness platform's revenue by 8,722%, landing Uwill at #27 on Inc. magazine's 2024 annual list of the nation's 5,000 fastest-growing companies, making it the fastest-growing company in Massachusetts. Launched just five years ago, London has expand- ed Uwill's reach to be implemented in more than 450 schools worldwide. Locally, the platform has been integrated at institutions including Clark University in Worcester and Fitchburg State University. In 2024, Uwill acquired mental health platforms Lexington-based Christie Campus Health and Califor- nia-based e Virtual Care Group, adding 200 more clients. Bringing his company's partnership to a state government level, Uwill renewed its contract last year with the State of New Jersey and the New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education to offer college students 24/7 access to virtual mental health services for free. e three-year contract will provide services to more than 350,000 students throughout 45 institutions in what the state refers to as the first partnership of its kind in the country. - M.K.M. Stephen Kerrigan President & CEO Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center, in Worcester Employees: 475 Residence: Lancaster College: University of Maryland Few leaders in Central Massachusetts fight as fiercely to provide health care regardless of an individual's abili- ty to pay like Kerrigan, and this past year, he set records. Kerrigan has advocated on a statewide level to protect Massachusetts residents against the President Donald Trump Administration's threats to cut federal funding to organizations standing by their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives as he stands firmly that the health center will never yield to these ultimatums. Amid the federal chaos, Kerrigan has managed to increase the health center's number of unduplicated patients served to 34,734, the highest number in the organization's 52-year history. e nonprofit saw its total visits increase by 161,183, an 8.4% increase from fiscal 2023, and again, the highest number in the health center's history: medical visits rose by 4.8% to 87,070, the most ever, and its dental visits jumped by 16%. Under Kerrigan's leadership, the Kennedy Communi- ty Health Center received Advanced Practice Provider Fellowships Accreditation with Distinction for its Ad- vanced Practice Provider Residency program in 2024, a recognition of the health center's ability to transition physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses to new practice environments. - M.K.M.

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