Worcester Business Journal

BY MICA KANNER-MASCOLO WBJ Staff Writer D r. Kavita Babu is a quadru- ple threat, said Dr. Eric Dickson, president and CEO of UMass Memorial Health in Worcester. Dickson has known Babu for 15 years and can confirm she is 1) a great doctor, 2) a great educator, 3) a great researcher, and 4) an ardent community advocate. "I think about the positive mark that that woman has already le and what she'll do in the future, and I'm humbled," Dickson said. She's been a practicing emergency medicine physician for 25 years, and today holds so many titles she finds it simplest to just go by medical director of community benefits for UMass Memori- al Health. Yet, that title doesn't begin to scratch the surface. In her role, Babu is the founder of the healthcare system's Road to Care, a mo- bile clinic traveling throughout Worces- ter and offering free medical care to people with housing and food insecurity, as well as substance use disorders. She is co-director of UMass Memo- rial Medical Center's Medical Respite program, a joint venture with the Fram- ingham's South Middlesex Opportunity Council, providing a safe space to recov- er post-acute care for unhoused individ- uals while supporting their transition to permanent and stable housing What started as a seven-bed pilot initiative in 2024, launched in part by a $820,000 state grant Babu secured, is now a permanent 11-bed program that has successfully transitioned 12 individ- uals into permanent housing. is is one of her proudest accomplishments. e feat is in alignment with the di- rective Dickson gave her when he named her UMass Memorial's inaugural chief opioid officer: to decrease the harms of opioids, including morbidity and mortality. "ere's so much that we don't even realize are that underpins our health, with the most foundational being hous- ing," said Babu. Babu spearheaded these initiatives, and she manages their finances, writes and secures grants, oversees contracting, insurance agreements, and billing along with being responsible for project man- agement and operational logistics. "Each one of these things, it starts with that iterative process of identifying the problem, exploring the solutions, deploy- ing the solutions, improving on them," said Babu. "at operational piece is what takes this from idealism to action." Babu's unique capacity to make a busi- ness case for an intervention is one of the reasons Dickson later selected her for her directorial role in community benefits. Everyday, medical professionals are coming to UMass Memorial looking for resources for their initiatives, but most of them can't put together a true value proposition for him, said Dickson. Babu does. She creates a value proposition of why it is financially worthwhile to invest in programs such as her Road to Care and Medical Respite program, which in the end save the community money, he said. "e Road to Care treatment center that in the end, for a few hundred thou- sand dollars a year, she's going to prevent dozens, if not hundreds of opioid over- doses, which would have cost millions of dollars a year," he said. Babu has the complementary strengths of not only being a high- ly-skilled business woman but having a close to unparalleled ability to provide care with humility and compassion for each patient. "ink about that: walking into a room and … interacting with a person you've never met before, and giving them the worst news of their life. And then worry about getting back to work so you can see the next patient," said Dickson. Dealing with those situations day in and day out oen hardens physicians, he said, but Babu has never been able to just get up and mentally walk away from these tragedies. "She just felt like this was a failure of all of medicine for not having prevented this from happening, and a lot of my other colleagues just move on," he said. "is is her thing, is opioid over- doses. And she works relentless- ly, like it's personal for her." is grief is the hardest part of her job, said Babu. But the undefeated optimism of her col- leagues is what helps sustain her, including wise words Dickson himself shared with her. "Every day something amazing happens, and every day something hard happens," Babu said. "It's that balance of these incredible success stories that sort of pro- pel you forward, and then these tragedies that propel you faster." OUTSTANDING WOMEN IN BUSINESS F O C U S Dr. Kavita Babu Medical director, community benefits at UMass Memorial Health, in Worcester Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at UMass Chan Medical School, in Worcester Residence: Shrewsbury Education: Bachelor's degree and doctor of medicine degree from Brown University, and expected 2026 graduation for MBA at UMass Am- herst Isenberg School of Management How are things changing for profes- sional women? Progress is uneven. More women leaders are transforming their institutions. Even with increased representation, misogyny and ineq- uities keep too many future leaders from advancing. The shift I see is in momentum. Women are mentoring and building support for one another while pressing organizations to be accountable. That persistence is reshaping the possible. Babu transforms the medical landscape for the most vulnerable patients W wbjournal.com | October 6, 2025 | Worcester Business Journal 11 PHOTO | MATT WRIGHT

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