In The News

Telegram & Gazette
Date: 7/2/17

America is in the worst opiate epidemic ever, and our Commonwealth is among the nation’s hardest hit. There were 1,933 confirmed opioid-related deaths in 2016, per the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Put another way, last year opiate addiction claimed the lives of 161 people each month, 37 people each week, and five people each day.

Lowell Sun
Date: 6/21/17

CHELMSFORD -- There's strength in seeking help.

That's one of the messages Chelmsford resident Jodi Tarantino hopes to convey as the new host of Airing Addiction, a weekly radio program on WTAG 580 AM in Worcester.

Tarantino, a licensed social worker and program director of residential services at Spectrum Health System Inc.'s Charles J. Faris Recovery Center in Westboro, said she hopes to destigmatize addiction, treatment and behavioral health in general.

Telegram & Gazette
Date: 12/18/16

Simply put, the scope of the current opioid epidemic is staggering. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more people died from drug overdoses last year than in any year on record. And, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids (including prescription opioid pain relievers and heroin), has nearly quadrupled since 1999. No community is immune. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health recently reported that 209 people lost their battle with opioid addiction last year in Worcester County alone. That's 17 people a month or four people each week.

Telegram & Gazette
Date: 10/09/16

WORCESTER – Brian Keith, a 37-year-old city resident and banker who's recovering from crack cocaine and alcohol addictions, said he hadn't worked out in three months.

Worcester Business Journal Online
Date: 4/26/16

Worcester's Spectrum Health Systems has named Kurt Isaacson as the organization's new president and CEO, replacing Charles “Chuck” Faris as he steps into retirement.

Worcester Business Journal Online
Date: 2/15/15

When Kelly McCausland was teaching yoga and mindfulness at rehabilitation facilities, she had a lot of interactions with patients who believed in their sobriety, only to succumb to their addiction months or even weeks later.

The Boston Globe
Date: 3/22/15

Mornings start with yoga and meditation. Then there's breakfast, the first of three gourmet meals a day. After dinner, a massage helps to calm the mind and muscles before bed.

Worcester Magazine
Date: 2/17/16

Chuck Faris joined Spectrum Health Systems as a counselor in 1971, not long after the start of a new decade. Now, 45 years later, and a little more than halfway through the second decade of a new century, he is calling an end to a career that saw him rise all the way to the top.

Worcester Magazine
Date: 4/26/16

Kurt Isaacson has been named the new president and CEO of Spectrum Health Systems.

The Boston Globe
Date: 8/3/16

More than ever, the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl is claiming lives in Massachusetts, fueling an overdose death toll that continues to rise, according to data released Wednesday by the state Department of Public Health.