So long, farewell

Dear Massachusetts Serious Illness Coalition Community,

It’s a strange sort of feeling, writing a farewell newsletter to a group of professionals committed to improving the lives of people facing serious illness—we’re just not ones to shy away from acknowledging the end. And so here we are. After nearly a decade of collaboration, learning, and impact, the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness Care will be winding down in 2026. 

I am filled with incredible pride and gratitude for what we’ve accomplished:

Brought together more than 135 organizations and over 4,000 individuals through our convenings and programs.

• Advanced our field’s understanding about messaging and language for advance care planning, communication, and the relational aspects of care using novel research methods to engage with diverse patient populations.
• Took a collaborative approach to understanding and improving how serious illness care and communication are taught in nursing and medical schools.
• Pioneered the volunteer Health Care Agent Matching Program, helping over 50 unrepresented patients to date avoid delays and costly guardianships.
• Piloted the Massachusetts Patient and Community Review Board to elevate community voices in research and program design.
• Partnered with the state to shape the MOLST-to-POLST transition, ensuring community perspectives guide this work.
• Published 15 research reports and articles, and presented at leading national forums, including the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

At its heart, the Coalition has always been about collaboration, strengthening the connections between patients, clinicians, and communities so that care reflects what truly matters most to people. While the Coalition itself will wind down, so much of what we’ve done together will live on. The Medical Schools Collaborative will continue its faculty development program. The Health Care Agent Matching Program has expanded to include Hebrew SeniorLife as a new partner. And a large coalition, including many of you, is working with the state to shape the registry, training, and best practices that will bring POLST to life across Massachusetts.

It’s a moment of change for me, too. I am taking on a new role at Blue Cross, where I will be focusing more deeply on helping guide our members through the challenging, fragmented, and often inhumane health care ‘system’ we have—and hopefully making it better along the way. I can’t imagine even attempting this work without all I’ve learned from all of you and this work (from a certain angle, pretty much every important discussion or decision is some kind of serious illness conversation).

So, thank you to all of you—for all we’ve learned and shared. For the example we set for other states, and for all that lies ahead. Special thanks to Andrew Dreyfus and Blue Cross for the years of support and to the visionary leadership of our other founders, Maureen Bisognano, Atul Gawande, and Ellen Goodman. And of course, to the team—the late Richard Averbuch who loved this work so much, Stephanie Chan, Jane Kavanagh, Zamawa Arenas, and Carine Davila—who made it all possible (and so much fun).

Anna