A Worcester man reunited Monday with the caregivers at UMass Memorial Medical Center who saved his life.

Two weeks ago, Irineo Benitez's wife called the hospital's patient access center to schedule an appointment. During the call, the scheduler realized the call was more serious as she learned that Benitez was experiencing chest pain. The call was transferred to a nurse who said he needed an ambulance immediately.

 It's approximately 4 feet tall, has expressive eyes and a childlike voice that will melt your heart. 

Its name is Robin, and it's the newest caregiver in pediatrics at UMass Memorial Medical Center - University Campus. 

Actually, Robin’s full name is Robin the Robot, and it's the only one of its kind currently working in Massachusetts and on the East Coast.  

Weight bias in medical care settings, which involves health care professionals stigmatizing and judging patients with the disease of obesity, is widespread. Obesity as a disease state leads to dangerous consequences for more than 40% of U.S. adults and 20% of U.S. children and adolescents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)[1].

Worcester, Mass – UMass Memorial Medical Center has a new mobile vehicle on the road to support addiction services in the Worcester homeless community. Made possible through the kindness of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his family, the Kraft Community Care in Reach® mobile unit is equipped and staffed to bring substance use disorder (SUD) and other health care services to those who need them, where they need them.

To:     All UMass Memorial Health Caregivers
From:  Eric Dickson, MD, President and CEO, UMass Memorial Health
Tiffany Moore Simas, MD, MPH, MEd, Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Date:  June 27, 2022
Re:     Reaffirming Our Commitment to Reproductive Health

Many of us are still in shock about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade on Friday of last week. We want to take this moment to repeat and reaffirm UMass Memorial Health’s commitment to reproductive health for all people regardless of their circumstances. 

There is widespread concern about what the pandemic is doing to the mental health of adolescents. In Worcester, a new school-based program aims to address the issue. UMass Memorial Health’s Community Healthlink C.A.R.E.S. Club (Create. Achieve. Respect. Elevate. Succeed) expanded to Worcester East Middle school. Community Healthlink will mentor students and provide counseling, along with academic help.

Dr. Eric Dickson, chief executive of UMass Memorial Health Care, said these factors make the timing of the latest COVID wave particularly tough. “As we started to see this uptick, we were really overwhelmed trying to catch up with a lot of work that had been put off for the last two years [and] dealing with staffing challenges,” he said. “We were starting from a position of weakness in health care, and then you're laying this on top of it.”

UMass Memorial Health has also delivered approximately 8,000 courses of either Paxlovid or the monoclonal antibody therapy bebtelovimab since last July — almost 2,000 of which were delivered since April 10. It also hosts clinics for Evusheld for patients on Saturdays. Dr. Eric Dickson, CEO of UMass Memorial Health, said the health system has expanded the number of monoclonal antibody treatments it can deliver in a day, to 45 to 48 appointments. The center has been operating at maximum capacity for the last five weeks, as the latest surge began.

Speaking on children’s mental health, Dr. Abita Raj, a child and adolescent psychologist with Community Healthlink, said it’s important to keep an open dialogue. 

“Checking in, if you notice something different, talk,” Dr. Raj said. “Talking is so important. Some kids are open and some kids are going to push you away, but the fact that you asked and engaged is so, so important.”