Massachusetts Medical Society

06/12/2026

Erin McAleer, CEO of Project Bread, a Boston-based anti-hunger organization, says demand is higher than ever for food assistance, but it’s also becoming harder for people to connect with the state’s Department of Transitional Assistance or — DTA — which administers the benefits. “The agency just doesn’t have enough caseworkers to respond to that volume of demand. And so people are calling, and around 85% of the calls are just being dropped,” they said. McAleer says the problem is driven by a couple different things — first and foremost that more people are going hungry in Massachusetts than ever before. Food insecurity spiked nationwide during the pandemic, and never went back down. https://bit.ly/4opFR6p

President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill shifts the cost of SNAP onto states if they can't keep their error rate below 6%. Massachusetts is hovering around 14%. And an under-resourced DTA is more likely to make mistakes.

06/11/2026

Public health officials began new surveillance tracking for alpha-gal syndrome this spring, and the Commonwealth's epidemiologist outlined efforts Wednesday for Massachusetts to collaborate with other states to learn more about the condition spread through lone star tick bites. Fourteen states now have mandatory reporting requirements for alpha-gal syndrome, also dubbed the red meat allergy, State Epidemiologist Catherine Brown said. "I don't expect that Massachusetts data alone are going to answer all the questions that we still have about alpha-gal," Brown told the Public Health Council. "But now we can work with other jurisdictions to aggregate data and learn as a group, and then use that information to educate our providers and our public, which again was one of the primary reasons to make this reportable in Massachusetts." https://wbur.fm/3S6iPVY

Due to the emerging public health threat, Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein tasked medical providers with notifying the state about new alpha-gal syndrome diagnoses. Lab results have shown high or moderate positivity rates for alpha-gal syndrome in Massachusetts, particularly in Barnstable...

06/11/2026

The state’s Health Policy Commission has completed its review of a deal between CVS and Mass General Brigham to make its MinuteClinics into primary care practices, a key step for the partnership, though concerns remain about how it could raise health care spending. “As we seek to test out new innovative models, we have to balance and understand impacts on affordability of care,” said the board's executive director, David Seltz. With the vote and review completed by the commission, MGB and CVS are cleared to sign their contract in 30 days. Under their plan, the roll-out would take place over three years, with five MinuteClinic locations transitioning to primary care sites in the first year. A total of 37 MinuteClinic locations are part of the proposed deal in Massachusetts.

The state's Health Policy Commission will monitor the partnership's impact on sending and access for up to five years.

06/11/2026

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is planning to expand its ambulatory care footprint with more new construction in Boston as patient volumes rise. The cancer hospital’s CEO Dr. Benjamin Ebert’s announced that Dana-Farber plans to build an outpatient care center in Brighton at 60 Guest Street in Boston Landing. The new facility would include exam rooms, infusion spaces, pharmacy, radiology, lab services and clinical trials sites together, which Ebert said in a post will help the hospital deliver “multidisciplinary care.” The cancer hospital has not yet put a price tag on the plan. Dana-Farber said it will submit its regulatory proposal to the Department of Public Health this fall.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is planning to expand its ambulatory care footprint with more new construction in Boston.

06/11/2026

Lead beyond clinical care! Enrollment is open for Business Essentials for Health Care Professionals, a 10-week virtual program offered by the Massachusetts Medical Society designed for busy physicians and health care professionals to influence decisions, reduce workplace friction, and lead with confidence without stepping away for patient care or pursuing a full-time MBA.

Register by June 15 and save $100 with early-bird pricing
Program starts September 9, 2026
Preview program and enroll today: https://goalmakers.com/mms

06/11/2026

A new program at Mass General Brigham pairs high-risk pregnant patients with community health workers who support them through pregnancy, delivery, and the difficult months after birth. The initiative is one of many across the state to address widening maternal health disparities. To qualify for MGB’s Family Partner Program, patients must be considered high-risk, planning to deliver at one of its four hospitals (Brigham, Mass. General, Newton-Wellesley, or Salem Hospital), and be experiencing both clinical and social risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, mental health conditions, unstable housing, and food insecurity. Paid for with philanthropic funds, the program accepts patients regardless of their insurance coverage or ability to pay. It has helped 160 patients and is expected to reach 500 to 600 women this year. https://bit.ly/4fCEnDw

Boston programs show how continuous postpartum care can change mothers lives.

06/10/2026

Gun violence impacts families, communities, health care workers, and patients every day. This June, during , the MMS joins those calling for safer communities and an end to violence in all its forms. As physicians, we believe every person deserves the opportunity to live, grow, and thrive free from preventable harm.

06/10/2026

Beth Israel Lahey Health is planning to invest $79.5 million at its Lahey Hospital & Medical Center campus. The state’s second-largest health system said in a state filing that it wants to construct a new inpatient unit with 36 new beds, create a new cardiac lab and buy a new CT machine. The plan, detailed in a Determination of Need, is subject to approval from the state’s Department of Public Health. In its filing, Lahey said that adding new inpatient beds will improve throughput, or the ability to move patients from the emergency department to an admitted space. Lahey said its emergency department is growing increasingly overcrowded; emergency department boarding hours have increased by over 50% since 2022, according to the filing. https://bit.ly/4gbXy7h

The state's second-largest health system said the proposed expansion will help capacity levels.

06/10/2026

While ticks are nothing new to Martha’s Vineyard, alpha gal is, and the fear of contracting it casts a shadow over virtually every aspect of summer fun, from flip-flops to burgers on a grill. The upheaval on Martha’s Vineyard, as well as on neighboring Nantucket, may be a preview of what the mainland can expect, said Dr. Catherine Brown, the state epidemiologist and public health veterinarian. Lone star ticks are turning up elsewhere in Massachusetts, and alpha gal has been diagnosed in people with no clear ties to Martha’s Vineyard, suggesting the ticks may be advancing beyond the islands. “Those two things combined make me very suspicious that these are things we’re going to see expand across the state,” Brown said. https://bit.ly/4ofmmgw

Lone star ticks that carry alpha gal syndrome have taken over the summer playground of presidents and celebrities.

06/10/2026

A novel pill helped people with advanced pancreatic cancer live longer, researchers reported Sunday, raising hopes of long-needed better treatments for one of the deadliest types of cancer. “While not curing the cancer, it is a very large step forward,” said Dr. Zev Wainberg, of the University of California, Los Angeles, who helped lead the study. The drug is called daraxonrasib and it blocks a mutated protein that fuels tumor growth in more than 90% of pancreatic cancer cases — a target that had eluded treatment for decades. The daily pills nearly doubled survival time, with fewer severe side effects, in a study that randomly assigned the experimental drug or more chemotherapy to 500 patients whose metastatic, or spreading, cancer had quit responding to prior treatment. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. https://bit.ly/4v2OWEL

New research shows a novel pill is helping people with advanced pancreatic cancer live longer. It's not a cure, as the drug's effects eventually waned.