Greater Worcester

UMass Memorial Medical Center (UMMMC) is changing the way it manages and staffs its hemodialysis unit at the University Campus in Worcester after it was confirmed that a patient was infected with the Hepatitis C virus there last year.

With 20 sites across the commonwealth – including locations in Worcester, Milford and Ayer - winning initial state approval to open medical marijuana dispensaries, the next step toward approval begins, a process that will focus heavily on local rules.

Latinos are uniquely positioned to help JetBlue succeed in Worcester, but intensive marketing will be needed to make that happen, according to a panel of Hispanic business and civic leaders.

Fallon Community Health Plan changed its name to Fallon Health on Saturday, the Worcester-based health care services organization announced.

A Holden insurance agency has become part of a larger group of Worcester-based agencies.

The Worcester and MetroWest regions will each receive roughly $3 million to 4 million over the next four years to help fight chronic illness and reduce health care costs.

A report released by the Sierra Club on Monday said a proposal to replace the commonwealth's existing bottle redemption law with a one-cent fee would saddle municipalities with extra costs and result in thousands of lost jobs.

Unemployment in Central Massachusetts held relatively steady in December and throughout the past year.

Gov. Deval Patrick on Wednesday presented his eighth and final budget proposal before he leaves office, filing a $36.4-billion spending plan for the next fiscal year that includes a $205 million increase for public education and investments in the life sciences, dental care for the poor, and caregivers who assist the state's neediest residents.

Worcester-based Spectrum Health Systems has taken out an $8.5-million bond to build an 80-bed, 30,000-square-foot treatment facility in Westborough.