Coming together to strengthen rural and community health across the Commonwealth
Join us for our fourth annual healthcare summit! Register today >
- No cost to attend
- Breakfast and lunch will be provided by award-winning UMass Dining
- Open to all
- Healthcare Career Fair immediately follows from 1 p.m to 3 p.m.
Join leaders from healthcare, higher education, government, public health, community health centers, long‑term care, and assisted living to address one of the Commonwealth’s most pressing challenges: strengthening the workforce that serves rural and medically underserved communities.
This year’s summit will highlight strategies, partnerships, and practical solutions for building a resilient, community‑based health workforce:
- The growing need for community health workers and community‑based health professionals
- Workforce shortages at community health centers
- Recruitment and retention challenges in rural health settings
- Staffing needs in assisted living, skilled nursing, and long‑term care facilities
- Strategies to strengthen care delivery in medically underserved and rural communities
- University, provider, public health, and state collaborations to develop sustainable workforce solutions
Agenda
- 8 a.m.
Registration and Breakfast
- 8:30 a.m.
Welcome remarks
- Speakers: Dean Allison Vorderstrasse, Sen. Jo Comerford, Rep. Mindy Domb, and Chancellor Javier Reyes
- 9 a.m.
Anchors of Access: Elevating Community Health Centers as Frontline Care Engines
- Panelists: Michael Purdy, Chief Executive Officer, Hilltown Community Health; Tania Barber, President and CEO, Caring Health Center; Mary Ellen McIntyre, Executive Vice President, Grants, Programs and Operations, Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers; Allison van der Velden, Chief Executive Officer, Franklin County Community Health Center
- Moderator: Tinamarie Fioroni, Vice President of Workforce Development and Learning, Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers
- 9:45 a.m.
Transforming Aging in Rural Communities: How Leaders Create the Future Together
- Alice Bonner, Chair, Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition
- 10:10 a.m.
Care Beyond the Clinic: Reimagining Home Health and Long Term Support Systems
- Panelists: Maggie Messer, Director Talent Acquisition and Employee Engagement, Integritus Healthcare; Tamara Bedard, Central Region, Local Public Health Nurse Consultant, UMass Amherst Marieb College of Nursing; Peter Lindenauer, Chair, Department of Healthcare Delivery and Population Sciences, Baystate Health; Adam Delmolino, Vice-President, Innovation & Care Transformation, Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association
- Moderator: Alice Bonner, Chair, Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition
- 10:55 a.m.
Shortage to Solution: Building the Massachusetts' Nursing Career Pathway
- Jay Prosser, Executive Director, Nursing Council for Workforce Sustainability
- 11:30 a.m.
Legislating Equity: Funding, Frameworks, and the Future of Rural Health Policy
- Panelists: Eliza Lake, Director of Health Policy and Strategic Initiatives at Executive Office of Health and Human Services; Phoebe Walker, Director of Community Health, Franklin Regional Council of Governments; Tara Gregorio, President, Massachusetts Senior Care Association
- Moderator: Michael Lepore, Associate Dean for Research, Elaine Marieb College of Nursing, UMass Amherst
- 12 p.m
Closing remarks and lunch
Thank you to our lead legislative sponsors!
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Jo Comerford, Mass. State Senator for Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester counties. Chairperson, Joint Committee on Higher Education.
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Mindy Domb, Mass. State Representative, Third Hampshire District. Chair, Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery.
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Western Mass legislative delegation
State Senators
- Sen. Jo Comerford
- Sen. Adam Gomez
- Sen. Jake Oliveira
- Sen. John Velis
- Sen. Paul Mark
State Representatives
- Representative Shirley Arriaga
- Representative Brian Ashe
- Representative John Barrett III
- Representative Leigh Davis
- Representative Mindy Domb
- Representative Patricia Duffy
- Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier
- Representative Michael J. Finn
- Representative Homar Gomez
- Representative Carlos Gonzalez
- Representative Angelo Puppolo
- Representative Lindsay Sabadosa
- Representative Aaron Saunders
- Representative Todd Smola
- Representative Susannah Whipps
- Representative Kelly Pease
