UMass Memorial Health

Holes in health insurance coverage are causing major disparities, as well as a growing burden on Central Massachusetts healthcare providers.

A new Medicare health plan dubbed Mass Advantage and owned by UMass Memorial Health Ventures, Inc., Shields Managed Care Solutions, LLC, and WCAS CM Holdings LLC will become available to Worcester County residents in the coming months.

UMass Memorial Health on Monday announced the acquisition of the former Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center at 378 Plantation St. in Worcester, which cost $23.5 million, according to the Worcester County Registry of Deeds.

The new program at UMass Memorial Health offers hospital-level care to patients in their own homes, using virtual monitoring systems and at-home visits from healthcare professionals.

A quarter of Worcester County residents age 12 and up still haven’t gotten a first shot of COVID-19 vaccine. And, since the virus spreads much more easily among those who are unvaccinated, that group is helping to fuel the resurgence of cases coming with the Delta variant of the disease.

Burnout is nothing new in the healthcare field, but a mental health crisis among healthcare workers may be leading to startling staffing shortages as a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic threatens to overburden hospitals again.

Worcester healthcare provider UMass Memorial Health announced a plan on Wednesday to provide booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to all individuals eight months after they received their second vaccine.

UMass Memorial Health on Tuesday announced the launch of its new telehealth program, Hospital at Home, which allows patients to stay at home while receiving hospital-level services.

Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital, a 110-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Worcester, announced on Wednesday the appointment of Pete Lancette as CEO.

The annual ranking by the publication U.S. News & World Report placed UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester as the sixth best hospital in Massachusetts, while Saint Vincent Hospital, also in Worcester, placed ninth.