7 days ago
Worcester health and human services commissioner to retire after 10 years
After 10 years of serving as Worcester's health and human services (HHS) commissioner, Dr. Matilde Castiel will retire on Sept. 30, City Manager Eric D. Batista announced on Monday.
'I am retiring after 10 years. It's not easy for me to say those words because this work, and this city, have been my heart for a decade,' Castiel said in a press release from Batista's office. 'I have had the extraordinary privilege of serving a community I love alongside people who inspire me every single day. Together, we have faced enormous challenges and built bold, beautiful solutions. I have seen what's possible when compassion leads, when equity guides, and when justice is more than a goal but truly is a practice.'
Castiel immigrated from Cuba to the United States in 1962, according to the press release. For 36 years, she has worked as an internal medicine physician in Worcester, spending time at UMass Memorial Medical Center and Family Health Center of Worcester.
She is also an associate professor of internal medicine, family medicine and psychiatry at the UMass Chan Medical School.
In 2015, then City Manager Ed Augustus named Castiel to serve as the HHS commissioner.
Castiel's appointment came at a time when Worcester reconstituted its HHS department, which was previously eliminated in 2009 as part of budget cuts.
As HHS commissioner, Castiel helped establish the city's Housing First Coordinating Council, opioid task force and the mayor's mental health task force, the press release reads.
Recently, she worked with UMass Chan Medical School to create the Worcester Integrated Health Data Exchange — a partnership among health care agencies that provide Worcester health data to help better understand health inequities, trends, risk factors and outcomes, according to the press release.
'I want to congratulate Dr. Castiel on an incredibly impactful tenure as a public servant to the City of Worcester,' Batista said in the press release. 'Her dedication to this community has truly been inspiring – from her work to institute a syringe exchange program to launching a Housing First Coordinating Council to her leadership throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, running equity-based vaccination campaigns and shelters — she has proven herself as a compassionate problem solver and will leave a lasting legacy.'
With Castiel departing, Batista's administration will 'explore' options for the role of HHS commissioner and will relay its plan before Castiel's departure, according to the press release.
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