CoverHealthcare Heroes

Healthcare Heroes 2023

We’re excited to celebrate our 2023 Healthcare Heroes on Thursday, Oct. 26 at the Springfield Marriott Downtown.

Since BusinessWest and its sister publication, the Healthcare News, launched the recognition program known as Healthcare Heroes in 2017, the initiative has more than succeeded in its quest to identify true leaders — not to mention inspiring stories — within this region’s large and vitally important healthcare sector.
The award was created to recognize those whose contributions to the health and well-being of this region, while known to some, needed to become known to all. And that is certainly true this year.
These nine individuals are leaders, and also innovators, collaborators, and, perhaps most important, inspirations. They have devoted their careers to improving the quality of individual lives and the health of entire communities. We find these stories to be compelling and inspirational, and we’re sure you will as well.


See the 2023 Healthcare Heroes Digital Section HERE

Overall, everyone who was nominated this year is a hero, but in the minds of our judges — the editors and management at BusinessWest and the Healthcare News — eight of these stories stood out among the others. The Healthcare Heroes for 2023 are:


Lifetime Achievement:
Jody O’Brien, Urology Group of Western New England

Health Education:
Kristina Hallett, Bay Path University

Healthcare Administration:
Dr. Mark Kenton, Mercy Medical Center

Emerging Leader:
Ashley LeBlanc, Mercy Medical Center

Emerging Leader:
Ellen Ingraham-Shaw, Baystate Medical Center

Patient Care Provider:
Julie Lefer Quick, VA of Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System

Innovation in Health/Wellness:
Gabriel Mokwuah and Joel Brito, Holyoke Medical Center

Community Health:
Cindy Senk, Movement for All

See the 2023 Healthcare Heroes section HERE



Presenting Sponsors

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Partner Sponsors

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View Last Year’s Healthcare Heroes HERE