Health Care

Standard and Poor's Rating Services has upgraded UMass Memorial Medical Center's outlook from negative to stable, citing improved financial performance and affirmed the Worcester hospital's BBB+ bond rating on Tuesday.

HeartWare International has agreed to acquire Valtech Cardio, and through that deal, the Framingham-based medical device firm sees a big opportunity to expand its reach in the structural heart market, according to a statement issued this week.

The state's Center for Health Information and Analysis reported last week that Central Massachusetts hospitals collectively have the lowest total margins among all regions of Massachusetts. But that doesn't mean the picture is grim. Sergio Melgar, chief financial officer for UMass Memorial Health Care, said one has to look beyond margins and operating surpluses and losses for fiscal 2014, as detailed in the center's recent report, to appreciate the bigger picture.

To hear Spectrum Health Systems CEO Chuck Faris tell it, Massachusetts is a relatively good place to be in the addiction treatment services industry, and to receive treatment if you need it.

A three-year contract has been negotiated for 198 nurses at the Marlborough Hospital, representing the last Massachusetts Nurses Association-represented hospital to settle a contract, the association announced Thursday.

Cambridge-based biopharmaceutical company Enumeral Biomedical Holdings has announced a research study agreement with the University of Massachusetts Medical School to aid the company in developing new cancer therapies.

When Spectrum Health Services shuts the doors to its only outpatient methadone clinic in Maine, it will be a first for the 46-year-old Worcester-based substance abuse treatment services provider.

Celebrating 40 years last week, the New England Center for Children is growing its Southborough footprint to boost autism intervention and research for the benefit of children across the globe.

Central Massachusetts, especially Worcester, is home to a number of nonprofits and other tax-exempt organizations. Last year, more than 30 percent of all land in the city was tax exempt.

It's no mistake that, throughout Massachusetts, there's more hospital signage showing up either on commercial sites, or on empty land that will give rise to satellite facilities under the umbrella of larger health care systems. That, in turn, is creating new business for architects and construction companies.