As Manager of Procurement, Value Analysis and Contracting for South Shore Health, James “Barry” O’Shaughnessy has the critical job of ordering, inspecting and keeping stock of much-needed equipment and supplies that protect the health system’s frontline workers and employees. Recently, O’Shaughnessy...

When she felt the first contractions at 11:15 p.m. New Year’s Eve, Renai Townsend thought she had time to get to Boston to deliver her second child. “I thought they were Braxton Hicks contractions, which I had before,” she said. Renai called her parents to come over to watch her 2-year-old son, Will...