Worcester Business Journal

24 Worcester Business Journal | December 1, 2025 | wbjournal.com BY LAURA FINALDI Special to WBJ F or 25 to 30 hours per week, David Runyan works at the Worcester Free Care Collab- orative, seeing patients, men- toring new physicians, and serving as the organization's president. And he does it all for free. Volunteering has always been im- portant to Runyan. He doesn't come from wealth and grew up without a lot of things others take for granted. He's struggled with food insecurity and housing concerns throughout his life. at's what drives his unparalleled commitment to helping others. "My entire time going through col- lege, I had to work and support myself going through school. I understand a lot of what our patients are dealing with," he said. "Giving back to the community is very important, very core, to what I want to focus my practice around." Runyan has been volunteering with the Epworth Free Medical Program in Worcester for about a decade, perform- ing tasks like drawing blood and doing labs for patients at no cost to them. He F O C U S H E A LT H C A R E Runyan constantly gives of himself to help those in greatest need David Runyan President & CEO of the Worcester Free Care Collaborative and chief operating officer of the Worcester Evening Free Medical Service Program, in Worcester and Shrewsbury Education: Doctor of nursing practice, family practitioner with optional concen- tration in women's health from UMass Chan Medical School; master's degree from UMass Chan; bachelor's degree from University of South Alabama; associate degrees in paramedicine and computer systems engineering tech- nology from Quinsigamond Community College What are the best and worst aspects of working in health care? The best aspects of working in healthcare are building meaningful relationships with patients, empowering them to take charge of their health, and making a tangible difference in people's lives. The hardest part is witnessing the social, financial, and systemic barriers that pre- vent people from accessing the essential care they deserve. Healthcare Volunteer of the Year fell in love with it and joined Epworth's board. Six years ago, Epworth joined with six other free clinics to form the Worcester Free Care Collaborative. Runyan served as the inaugural vice president of the WFCC and then became its president. Dr. Sahdev Passey, medical director of the India Society of Worcester Free Health Stop, was the first president of the WFCC. He and Runyan worked together on the group's bylaws and got it approved as a nonprofit by the Internal Revenue Service. Runyan is very active in trying to promote the WFCC and make connec- tions with other organizations, Passey said. He works to form relationships with major healthcare organizations, in hopes they'll provide free care to patients if WFCC can't serve them. ey're not always successful, Passey said, but Runyan possesses a steadfast determination. "He's committed, and he really be- lieves in the cause and what we're trying to do," Passey said. "He's really involved in it, and he really wants to find ways that we can provide free care for labs and X-rays, for a lot of people who come to us and have no insurance." Outside of WFCC, Runyan works as a nurse practitioner in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at UMass Memorial Health, but he still can't help but find new ways to volunteer. is year, WFCC started a grant in honor of Dr. Jim Ledwith, Epworth's former medical director, who passed away in 2024. e idea was to fund student proposals to expand health care to underserved populations, which Runyan said is in the spirit of Ledwith's work. WFCC didn't know what to expect when it announced the grant, but the nonprofit got more proposals than it could fund. is le Runyan and his colleagues with an embarrassment of riches in ideas but not so much in money. But Runyan loved the student's ideas so much that he decided to personally pay for a second proposal. He funded what was essentially a cardiac health fair, where students offered free cardiac assessments and CPR training. Runyan said WFCC would have done the students a disservice if it didn't sup- port more than one initiative. e ideas were too good, he said. But one of the best parts was he got to volunteer at the cardiac health fair, too. e students "put so much work and so much passion into it," he said. "Even though Dr. Ledwith wasn't around, as I was listening, I just think so many of them embodied spirit of what he was doing in the community." "He really wants to find way that we can provide free care." Dr. Sahdev Passey, first president of the Worcester Free Care Collaborative PHOTO | COURTESY OF DAVID RUNYAN W

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