Justin Precourt, interim president of Worcester’s UMass Memorial Medical Center, has officially shed his provisional title, assuming his role as president of the largest hospital in Central Massachusetts.
Precourt has served in the medical center’s interim role since July 2023, following the resignation of Dr. Michael Gustafson. With his new appointment, Precourt is relinquishing his previous title of chief nursing officer. He is replaced by interim CNO Michelle O’Rourke.
Precourt’s promotion comes as the Worcester-based healthcare system has announced two additional leadership changes, naming Cynthia Barginere as its inaugural chief operating officer and Dr. Andy Karson as system chief physician officer and system chief medical officer, according to a Monday letter penned by UMass Memorial Health President and CEO Dr. Eric Dickson.
Photo I Courtesy of UMass Memorial Health
Cynthia Barginere, chief operating officer of UMass Memorial Health
Barginere will assume her new role come January, and will act as the president of UMass Memorial Health community entities, according to the letter. She will serve as the direct report for the presidents of the system’s hospitals including UMass Memorial Medical Center, Marlborough Hospital, and the newly-affiliated Milford Regional Medical Center.
Barginere comes to her UMass Memorial role having most recently served as senior vice president of University of California San Francisco Health and its president of adult hospitals, helping to lead a hospital system with 1 million patients and 13,000 employees.
Having worked almost 25 years in executive leadership roles, Barginere has previously acted as the chief operations officer for the Boston-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the chief operating officer and chief nursing officer for Baptist Medical Center South in Alabama.
Photo I Courtesy of UMass Memorial Heatlh
Dr. Andy Karson, system chief physician officer and system chief medical officer at UMass Memorial Heatlh
In his new role as system chief physician officer and system chief medical office, Karson will work in close collaboration with Barginere, according to the letter. He replaces Dr. Stephen Tosi, who will retire from the role on Dec. 1 but remain with the system, working in a part-time managerial role of its captive insurance company and risk management department.
Karson will continue his role as interim president of the UMass Memorial Medical Group.
“These changes to our system’s senior leadership team mark an important milestone for UMass Memorial as we continue to grow and evolve as an integrated health system and continue to respond to the unprecedented challenges we are facing in health care. I’m confident with the leaders we have in place, we are well positioned to do amazing work to meet our mission to improve the health of the diverse communities of Central Massachusetts,” Dickson said in the letter.
With 792 licensed beds, UMass Memorial Medical Center is the largest hospital in Central Massachusetts when ranked by number of licensed beds, according to data provided to the WBJ Research Department. Founded in 1998, the medical center generated $2.14 billion in revenue in 2023.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
