Worcester hospital named best in state for underserved populations

Photo | Timothy Doyle UMass Memorial Medical Center - University Campus

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UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester is the best hospital in Massachusetts when it comes to serving low-income patients and those from varying racial backgrounds, according to a new ranking by U.S. News & World Report.

UMass Memorial Medical Center is the only hospital in Massachusetts to land on the inaugural list of Best Regional Hospitals for Equitable Access and is one of 53 hospitals across 26 states to earn the recognition, according to a Wednesday press release from the U.S. News.

Hospitals on the list were recognized as a 2023 Best Regional Hospital and met at least two out of the three following benchmark criteria:

Having 40% or more of its patients from a community of greater socioeconomic deprivation, according to the Area Deprivation Index
Serving 20% or more racial/ethnic minority patients or was in the highest tier in at least one of five measures of racial and ethnic patient representation
Serving 20% or more Medicaid patients or was in the highest tier in the measure of low-income patient representation.

UMass Memorial Medical Center is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the number one best hospital in Worcester and the fourth best hospital in Massachusetts. The medical center is ranked as the 38th best hospital in the nation for obstetrics and gynecology.

The medical center is the flagship hospital for the $2-billion UMass Memorial Health system, which spans across Central Massachusetts with hospitals in Worcester, Leominster, Clinton, Marlborough, and Southbridge. The medical center has three campuses in Worcester, totalling 818 licensed beds and 7,575 employees, according to data provided to the WBJ Research Department.

“The Best Regional Hospitals for Equitable Access demonstrate by their example that a hospital can both excel in overall quality of care and also provide a substantial amount of that exceptional care to historically underserved communities,” Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News, said in the release. “Recognizing community hospitals that lead in this respect is a modest but necessary step toward ensuring everyone in the U.S. has access to high-quality medical care.”