How a labor-management partnership helps employee engagement at UMass memorial health
Overview
Imagine a union and an organization working together, collaboratively, for the sake of its people. That is the idea behind the labor-management partnership between UMass Memorial Health and its largest labor union, the SHARE Union. In this session, Joan Perreault and Will Erickson will talk about the frontline-driven process improvement teams that are the cornerstone of the partnership, and how a focus on engaging frontline workers benefits patients, the organization, and the employees themselves.
Host Company
UMass Memorial Health (UMMH) is the largest healthcare provider in Central Massachusetts. Our health system is made up of five hospitals, including a children’s medical center, behavioral health services and a dedicated provider group. UMMH keeps Lean thinking and training at the core of its operational strategy, and uses a robust idea system to incorporate front-line ideas into improvement efforts as often as possible. https://www.ummhealth.org/
Presenter
Joan Perreault, brings a diverse professional background and a fresh perspective to her role as a continuous improvement coach at UMass Memorial Health. Drawing on Lean methodology, she helps frontline-drivenunit‑based teams transform problems and ideas into meaningful projects that streamline workflows and elevate patient and caregiver experiences. A proud representative for botha healthcare system and a labor union, she is committed to collaborative,employee‑centered problem‑solving and is passionate about understanding and strengthening employee engagement. A creative thinker and facilitator,Joan brings a caring, empowering approach to leadership development and group coaching across the organization. She also presents regionally on employee engagement and holds an MBA from UMass Amherst’s Isenberg School of Management and an Main International Education from SIT Graduate Institute.
Will Erickson works for the SHARE/UMMH Labor Management Partnership office as a continuous improvement coach. His primary responsibility is supporting the partnership’s unit based teams program, an initiative designed to improve the way frontline staff feel about coming to work by engaging them in improving their most challenging processes. Before working in the partnership office, he was an organizer with the SHARE union, which represents 3,000 hourly hospital staff in over 100 different job titles including nursing assistants, respiratory therapists and schedulers at UMMH. He has been an organizer in the health care sector for over twenty years, and has also worked as a health policy researcher in the UK where he fell in love with the National Health Service. He received an MPH from The Dartmouth Institute for health policy and clinical practice in 2019.
Agenda
Thursday, May 21, 2026
4 p.m. Welcome
4:10 p.m. Presentation
4:50 p.m. Questions
5 p.m. Conclude event
PARTICIPANT BENEFITS
- The concept of a labor-management partnership
- The unit-based teams model for frontline-driven improvement
- How engaging employees in measurably improving their work is good for employees, patients/customers, and an organization’s bottom line.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Anyone that would like ideas for successfully engaging people and teams in process improvement initiatives, particularly those that work in unionized settings.
Safety Requirements
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