FIRING A SHOT across the bow of the state’s leading hospital networks, the House voted nearly unanimously on Wednesday to give a state health commission more authority to scrutinize expansion […]
Health Care
Posted inHealth Care
Hospital execs say industry in fragile state
THE CHIEF EXECUTIVES of the state’s top academic medical centers told the Health Policy Commission on Wednesday that they are doing everything they can to shift care to lower-cost settings […]
Posted inHealth Care
Rocky road continues at Biogen
FOR CAMBRIDGE-BASED Biogen, it’s been the best of times and the worst of times. The biotech powerhouse saw its Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm approved in June by the Food and Drug […]
Posted inThe Download
Taking Health Policy Commission to next level
Stuart Altman, the chair of the Health Policy Commission, is proud of what the agency has been able to do in Massachusetts to rein in health care costs, but now […]
Posted inHealth Care
Taking Health Policy Commission to next level
STUART ALTMAN, the chair of the Health Policy Commission, is proud of what the agency has been able to do in Massachusetts to rein in health care costs, but now […]
Posted inOpinion
Mariano’s health care bill shows promise
HOUSE SPEAKER Ron Mariano on Friday followed through on his pledge to put forward legislation that would subject expansion projects of major health care providers to more regulatory review. The bill, […]
Posted inHealth Care
Senate unveils major mental health bill
LEADERS IN THE Massachusetts Senate on Tuesday unveiled a comprehensive mental health bill, which would set a floor for the rates insurers must pay for mental health services, address the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Hospitals help mental health patients – by sending them away
THE 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL was stuck in a hospital emergency room waiting for mental health services, after she found a sharp object in school and tried to hurt a teacher. The […]
Posted inOpinion
At Mass General Brigham, when is enough enough?
ON AUGUST 19, 2003, I stood in the operating room of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. My wife was lying supine on a table in front of me and […]
Posted inOpinion
Hattis criticism of DPH off the mark
THE CRITICISM of the Department of Public Health that was recently published in Commonwealth may have struck a nerve, but it fell far wide of the mark. The article, “DPH […]
Posted inOpinion
Why health care workers are leaving the profession
OUR HEALTH CARE system is in critical condition. Only bold, systemic intervention will ensure its long-term well-being. The indicators are everywhere: On the West Coast, over 24,000 nurses and other […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mariano backs bill to provide more scrutiny of hospital expansions
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE will consider a health care bill that would impose increased scrutiny on hospital expansions, House Speaker Ron Mariano said Thursday. The goal of the bill would be to stop […]
Posted inHealth Care
Pediatric COVID vaccines now available in Massachusetts
MASSACHUSETTS HEALTH CARE providers prepared to start vaccinating children against COVID-19 on Thursday, now that the federal government has signed off on the safety and efficacy of Pfizer’s vaccine. “Pediatric […]
Posted inHealth Care
Senate ARPA bill includes $400m investment in mental health
LEADERS IN THE Massachusetts Senate will unveil a plan on Wednesday to spend $400 million improving the mental health system, part of a larger proposal for how to spend federal […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass General Brigham invests $50m in community partners
THE STATE’S LARGEST hospital system says it intends to invest $50 million over the next five years in 20 community partners who can help address mental health care shortages, chronic […]
Posted inHealth Care
Massachusetts preps for Nov. vaccine rollout to kids
MASSACHUSETTS EXPECTS to receive 360,000 doses of the pediatric Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by November 5, Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders said Thursday. Unlike the initial vaccine […]
Posted inOpinion
What our ‘anchor mission’ means for central Mass.
EARLIER THIS YEAR, UMass Memorial Health, the largest health care system in central Massachusetts, welcomed Harrington Hospital in Southbridge into its family. A merger of a community hospital into a […]
Posted inOpinion
As a society, we are simply exhausted
AS A HOSPITAL CEO, I can see the far-reaching effects of the pandemic on the emotional well-being of a community. I see it in the children and adults who visit […]
Posted inHealth Care
Patient advocates push for curbs on ‘step therapy’
JENNA GREEN, of Mansfield, was 31, active, and running a small business when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. A neurologist prescribed a medication, but the day she scheduled an […]
Posted inHealth Care
FDA’s controversial approval of Alzheimer’s drug draws calls for reform
WHEN MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM announced two weeks ago that it would not offer a controversial new drug treatment for Alzheimer’s disease to patients, it was an important statement from the […]
Posted inOpinion
Small dental practices face uncertain future
INDEPENDENT DENTISTS who work in rural areas and suburbs across Massachusetts are in a vulnerable spot. The dental practice landscape is changing, and the small, private practices that are an essential part […]
Posted inHealth Care
Study says 140,000 children lost a caregiver to COVID
A STUDY PUBLISHED by the American Academy of Pediatrics in the journal Pediatrics on Thursday quantifies yet another tragic outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic: orphanhood. The study used modeling to […]
Posted inHealth Care
Few giving up their jobs over vaccine mandates
VACCINATION MANDATES are sweeping across the country, both in the public and private sectors. They have produced a great deal of anxiety in public conversation, and polls in recent months […]
Posted inEducation
Delays hinder state’s pooled testing program for schools
WHEN THE AMHERST-PELHAM regional school district instituted a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, the school committee gave staff an alternative: they could get tested regularly instead. But the district was counting on […]