Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1545463
12 Worcester Business Journal | June 22, 2026 | wbjournal.com Dear Central Massachusetts Community, A s we reflect on the past 250 years of the United States of America, there are notable characteristics that have set our country apart – among them, a dedication to innovation and to helping each other. At UMass Memorial Health, we uphold those values every day, exercising the belief that anything is possible when we address challenges head on together and for the benefit of one another. America has never shied away from tackling the unknown to advance human quality of life. UMass Memorial Health's north star – the relentless pursuit of healing – captures this spirit of tireless innovation and is central to our culture of continuous improvement. e success of our organization is built upon the ideas of our caregivers, leveraging their first- hand recommendations about how to enhance the care we deliver to the communities we serve in both small and large ways. Over the past 14 years, we've implemented more than 200,000 frontline staff ideas that make the quality of the care we provide better for the people of Central Massachusetts. Healthcare is an ever-evolving industry. While I can't imagine what healthcare in America will look like in 250 years from now, I do know what we want it to look like in the next five to 10 years. Right now, we're working hard to transform where and how we deliver care both in our brick-and-mortar locations and beyond. We're advocating for a more accessible, robust primary care system so that we're preventing and treating disease early and before it worsens, investing in new technologies and buildings to ensure we're providing better health outcomes and growing with the needs of our patients, and examining new care delivery models to make sure we're reaching patients in the most convenient, cost-effective settings. To some, these goals may feel ambitious – but that's the American way. As we transform as an organization over time, we will judge our success by our ability to think boldly about the future, act with curiosity and fearlessness, and leverage new technologies and clinical advancements to better serve patients throughout Central Massachusetts. We are at the cutting edge of digital medicine, pioneering advancements in remote patient monitoring to facilitate successful discharges, deliver enhanced chronic care management and post-discharge care, and undertake clinical interventions outside of the hospital and in the convenience of patients' homes. ese programs, known as Hospital at Home and Mobile Integrated Health, are the future of modern medicine and we're right at the forefront. As artificial intelligence also becomes increasingly intertwined in healthcare, we're taking the time to learn how new tools can enhance how we deliver care for the benefit of caregivers and patients alike. Looking forward, artificial intelligence will enable and support – not replace – what we do and how we do it. While it's hard to predict what the future holds, I'm continually grounded and filled with hope by the people of Central Massachusetts and the communities we serve. Often, I find myself thinking of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when our region – our neighbors, our loved ones – were hit particularly hard. In the face of insurmountable uncertainty and fear, our community mobilized to set up one of the largest field hospitals in the state to treat those in need and activated countless channels of aid to ensure no one fell through the cracks. e heart of this region reflects the best that our country has to offer, and it's what drives our work to pursue health and healing every day. S P E C I A L A D V E R T I S I N G S E C T I O N | America at 250 Eric Dickson, MD, is president and CEO of UMass Memorial Health in Worcester and a professor of emergency medicine at UMass Chan Medical School. S P E C I A L A D V E R T I S I N G S E C T I O N | America at 250