Clinically Integrated Network Briefing
A Message for the Wellforce Clinically Integrated Network and Leaders across the Wellforce Health System

December 13, 2021

Dear Colleagues:

Momentum is building as we establish a Clinically Integrated Network that is meaningfully, distinctively different for our physicians, patients, and communities. 

We are pleased to report that Emily Young, MBA, has been named President after serving in the role on an interim basis since May 2021. Below is a preview of the media statement announcing the good news.

Emily’s appointment follows an extensive national search that culminated in an interview process involving dozens of physicians from across our Network. All who met with Emily were impressed by her passion to realize our vision for a Network unlike any other in our market – one where patients and physicians can truly thrive in today’s tumultuous health care environment. We look forward to working with Emily and her team to accomplish this most pressing priority.

The Wellforce CIN – as designed and governed by physicians – was launched on July 1, 2021 in pursuit of becoming a national leader in population health management and value-based care contracting. Significant progress is being made to position us to achieve our ambitious aims. Early accomplishments have included:

  • Building upon the trusting, inclusive culture initially established by the group of 14 physicians who chartered our new Network. From the beginning, we have adopted an “open ear” policy – actively seeking and responding to input from our diverse and geographically dispersed membership.

  • Forming Regional Clinical Councils in our North, Boston/MetroWest and South regions. We believe that health care is best organized around cohorts of patients and managed locally, as close to the point of care as possible. Our Regional Councils convene physicians and advanced practice clinicians who share patients to improve clinical performance and population health.

  • Cultivating an innovation mindset, so we may move more quickly to address unmet community health needs, deliver great care experiences, and sustain successful physician practices.

What our physicians are creating is beginning to resonate. In recent months, more than 100 clinicians have expressed interest in getting involved with the Wellforce CIN Board’s Committees, its Regional Clinical Councils, and in other ways.

As the New Year approaches, we look forward to engaging even more of you in the vital work of building healthier communities and restoring joy to the practice of medicine.

With deep appreciation and respect,



Wellforce Forms New Clinically Integrated Network
Appoints Emily Young, MBA, as President

BURLINGTON, MA, December 13, 2021 – Wellforce today announced that Emily Young, MBA, has been named President of its newly formed Clinically Integrated Network (CIN).

The Wellforce Clinically Integrated Network is a strategic business unit of the Wellforce health system that manages the health needs of populations and delivers distinctive care experiences during the 1.4 million patient visits that take place each year across the system. The Network was developed – and is now governed – by a group of visionary physician leaders. It builds upon the legacies of two long-standing, high-performing organizations: Lowell General Physician Hospital Organization and New England Quality Care Alliance (NEQCA). The Wellforce CIN’s 2,300 physicians and advanced practice clinicians are located throughout Eastern Massachusetts, from Cape Cod to Merrimack Valley.

 “At Wellforce, we are intentionally elevating the voices of physicians in all of our decision-making – from the bedside to the board room,” said Michael J. Dandorph, Wellforce CEO/President. “Our Clinically Integrated Network was purposefully designed by physicians to build healthier communities and to create more rewarding experiences for its members. We applaud the physicians who guided the Network’s formation and look forward to its growth under Emily Young’s leadership.”

“The Wellforce Clinically Integrated Network is unlike other networks,” said Michael Wagner, MD, Wellforce Chief Physician Executive. “Our strength comes from our diversity. Our members include primary care and specialist physicians, in private practice and employed by Wellforce, working in community and hospital settings. No other physician network in Massachusetts is as inclusive of such broad perspectives and successful in delivering value-based care.”

Young’s appointment followed an extensive national search, during which time she served as the Network’s interim President. Young brings two decades of health care management experience to the role. Previously, she was executive director of the Lowell General Physician Hospital Organization. She also has worked in leadership roles at Tufts Health Plan and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Hampshire. Young has a master’s of business administration degree from Bentley University and a bachelor’s degree in Health Management and Policy from the University of New Hampshire.

“The Wellforce Clinically Integrated Network Board is delighted with the decision to appoint Emily Young as President,” said Michele Crage, MD, Chair of the Wellforce CIN Board of Trustees. “She is a strategic and results-oriented leader whose diplomacy, ingenuity and tenacity are exactly what’s needed to translate the Board’s vision into action. Emily recognizes that the need for change is urgent – and we look forward to working with her to improve the health care experience for everyone in our Network.”

“It is an extraordinary privilege to be selected by the Wellforce Clinically Integrated Network Board to continue to serve as President,” said Young. “In my interim role, I have enjoyed getting to know and work with the physicians who are part of our Network. Their tireless dedication to their patients and to their peers is an inspiration. I also am deeply impressed by, and grateful for, our Network’s administrative leaders and the staff who support our organization’s day-to-day operations. I believe our Network is well-positioned for continued success – and look forward to the unprecedented opportunity we have to positively impact community health as part of the overall Wellforce health system.”

About the Wellforce Clinically Integrated Network
The Wellforce Clinically Integrated Network was established in 2021 to create a distinctively different population health enterprise. It comprises 2,300 physicians and advanced practice clinicians, in private and Wellforce-employed practices, working in community and hospital settings. The Network’s purpose is to build healthier communities and to create healthy, rewarding experiences for its member physicians and care teams. The Network builds upon the legacies of two long-standing, high-performing organizations – Lowell General Physician Hospital Organization and New England Quality Care Alliance (NEQCA). The Network, which is governed by a 12-person Board comprising eight practicing primary care and specialty physicians, is a not-for-profit subsidiary of the Wellforce health system.

About Wellforce
Wellforce is the health system formed by Tufts Medical Center and Circle Health/Lowell General Hospital in 2014. In January 2017, MelroseWakefield Healthcare (formerly Hallmark Health) joined the health system and in October 2018, Home Health Foundation became the fourth member. Wellforce provides patients, hospitals and physicians with a better option for health care collaboration. The health system brings together the strengths of academic medicine and community care in a model that respects both equally. Its members are dedicated to providing patients with the highest-level of care when and where they want it. Wellforce comprises more than 2,000 physicians, 13,000 employees, four community hospital campuses, one academic medical center, home health and hospice services, and generates more than $2.4 billion in revenue.

Media Contact:
Peg Holda
Wellforce Clinically Integrated Network
339-237-1428
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