Thought Leadership
Leadership Positioning
Tony Berry has a proven track record of collaborating with top executives to enhance their public perception and enhance their external messaging. A shining example of his success is seen in his work with UMass Memorial Health CEO, Eric Dickson, MD. In 2020, Dr. Dickson was honored with the prestigious CEO, Grace Under Pressure Award by Ragan PR Daily for his exceptional leadership throughout the challenges presented by the pandemic and societal unrest. The following highlights from news coverage during this period showcase the impact of Dr. Dickson's remarkable leadership.
Eric Dickson, MD, in the Spotlight
Safety net hospitals, health centers teetering on the brink Pandemic is choking revenue flow to providers on the front lines
MICHAEL JONAS Mar 25, 2020
DR. ERIC DICKSON oversees a sprawling health care system that cares for lots of low-income families throughout central Massachusetts, many of whom are wondering how they’ll pay their rent or afford groceries after suddenly losing their income in the avalanche of job losses being unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic. Without help, the CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care says his hospital system could soon be in the same boat…
UMass Memorial CEO Eric Dickson has prepared for pandemic management his whole career. The hospital system's bottom line is the better for it.
By Jessica Bartlett – Reporter, Boston Business Journal - Oct 2, 2020
The man had come to the UMass Memorial Hospital emergency room complaining of a cough, and said he'd been in contact with a coworker who had been diagnosed with the coronavirus. Dickson, the CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care, had returned to the ER in April to do weekly shifts during the pandemic…
UMass Memorial CEO, urging vaccinations, says he enrolled in clinical trial himself
WBJournal.com December 10, 2020
Dr. Eric Dickson, the president and CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care, is urging the Worcester-based health system's employees to get the coronavirus vaccine when it's expected to begin giving doses next …
Coronavirus: UMass Memorial Health Care CEO Dr. Eric Dickson and wife Dr. Cathy Jones donating paychecks to employee assistance fund during COVID-19 crisis
By Melissa Hanson | mhanson@masslive.com - Posted Apr 03, 2020
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Eric Dickson, the CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care, and Dr. Cathy Jones, Dicksons’ wife and a UMass Memorial physician, are donating all of their paychecks to the health care system’s employee assistance fund, officials said Friday…
For UMass Memorial Health Care, a decision not to lay off employees during coronavirus pandemic helped with financial recovery, CEO says
By Melissa Hanson | mhanson@masslive.com
While some health care systems in Massachusetts laid off or furloughed workers as one coronavirus patient after another flowed into their hospitals this spring, UMass Memorial Health Care kept all its employees working…
Worcester and UMass Memorial plan to share coronavirus data to find why some communities are hit harder than others
By Melissa Hanson | mhanson@masslive.com
Worcester City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. said that the city and UMass Memorial Health Care plan to share COVID-19 data in an effort to understand why some groups, specifically the Latino population in Central Massachusetts, have been more affected by the respiratory illness…
UMass Memorial giving $500 pandemic bonuses
By Grant Welker
UMass Memorial Health Care is giving bonuses of $500 to full-time caregivers and smaller amounts to those who work part time, President and CEO Dr. Eric Dickson said in a staff memo Monday. The bonuses take a step further what Dickson has said since the height of the coronavirus pandemic in the spring: He won't let the financial hit the hospital network has taken lead to layoffs or furloughs or other financial decisions that could harm the hospitals longer-term in their ability to provide care…
2020 Power 50: Eric W. Dickson, MD
2020 Power 50: Eric W. Dickson, MD, MHCM, FACEP · Title: President & CEO · Company: UMass Memorial Health Care · Located: Worcester
Long before Dickson took on the task of leading a 13,000-employee hospital system through the coronavirus pandemic – and managed a related field hospital at the DCU Center in Worcester – UMass Memorial Health Care’s president and CEO proved himself up to difficult jobs.
UMass Health Care chief surveys past, future challenges from COVID-19
Cyrus Moulton – June 20, 2020
WORCESTER - With the peak of coronavirus over, Dr. Eric W. Dickson, CEO and president of UMass Memorial Health Care, has diagnosed himself with writer’s cramp from penning so many thank-you notes enclosed with bottles of his homemade maple syrup…
UMass CEO Eric Dickson backs Medicare for All, calls plan bold, courageous
By Cyrus Moulton Telegram & Gazette Staff Posted Dec 7, 2019 at 7:29 PM
WORCESTER - Many hospitals hate the idea. Pharmaceutical companies, health insurance groups and hospital trade groups are lobbying against it. In fact, for many in the health care industry, the only thing universal about Medicare for All is disdain.
Hospitals Prepare for Possible Post Election-Tumult
By Jessica Bartlett – Reporter, Boston Business Journal
Nov 3, 2020, 6:41pm EST
In the midst of dealing with the start of a second coronavirus surge, some hospitals are also readying to respond to election turmoil.Much about the election may remain uncertain in the coming days or weeks, as votes are tallied across the country. But
Addressing Racial Disparities in the Era of COVID, Worcester Health Leaders Say Being Anti-Racist is the Key
By Melissa Hanson | mhanson@masslive.com
A group of Worcester area leaders on Thursday said that being anti-racist and addressing internal biases is what’s needed amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected the region’s Latinx and Black residents to a higher degree.
“If you’re struggling with food security, housing security or job security, and you don’t have transportation, it’s a little hard to get to a well child visit,” Dickson said. “But if all those things are secure for you, then of course you’re going to bring your kid to the pediatrician to be seen.”