Dr. Allen Smith, MD, MS, President and CEO of South Shore Health, and Pamela O’Leary, Chair of the South Shore Health Board of Directors, along with other senior leaders, recently welcomed Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh for a tour of South Shore Hospital.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (Blue Cross) and South Shore Health System have launched a first-of-its-kind pilot program to improve patient care, slow the rise of health care costs, and change the way hospitals are paid.

Made possible by a nearly $142,000 grant from the Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation, these modified rooms are calming, controlled spaces aimed at reducing stress, agitation, and anxiety for patients, particularly those who are neurodivergent or on the autism spectrum.

With support from its longstanding partnership with Best Automotive of Hingham, South Shore EMS has evolved into a premier emergency response team.

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...