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Even though the LGBTQ+ community represents a significant portion of the Central Massachusetts population, the number of owners who identify their businesses as such remains low.

Today, many aspects of life are getting closer to the pre-pandemic norm, but there’s still a long way to go to recover mentally from what people have been through.

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.

Many employers like the City of Worcester have long invested in wellness programming, saying such programs result in better overall employee health, as well as lower absenteeism and higher productivity and engagement.

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.

With the exception of certain municipalities taking the matter into their own hands, the lack of government direction on masks has left individual business owners and management to decide for themselves whether or not to require face coverings.

The Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) has provided health insurance to Massachusetts students for decades, while its more recent Student Health Insurance Plan Premium Assistance (SHIP PA) program helped control premium costs. However, declining student participants and rising premium costs led to the elimination of SHIP PA.

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.

Stephanie Ramey launched her own entrepreneurial venture this summer, the lingerie retailer The O Shop on Richmond Avenue.