WORCESTER—After a decade of leadership, Worcester’s Health and Human Services Commissioner Dr. Matilde Castiel is retiring from her role on Sept. 30 this year, City Manager Eric D. Batista announced.
Appointed in 2015 as the department’s first commissioner, Castiel helped shape a modern HHS that expanded beyond traditional public health to include services for youth, elders, veterans, and human rights advocacy. Her legacy includes tackling homelessness and opioid addiction, destigmatizing mental health issues, and leading the city’s equity-based COVID-19 response.
“I want to congratulate Dr. Castiel on an incredibly impactful tenure as a public servant to the City of Worcester,” Batista said in the announcement. “Her dedication to this community has truly been inspiring.”
Castiel immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba in 1962 and has served the Worcester community for more than 36 years as a board-certified internist, educator, and advocate. She holds faculty appointments at UMass Chan Medical School and spent time at UMass Memorial and the Family Health Center of Worcester before moving into public service.
Reflecting on her decision to retire, Castiel said in the announcement: “It’s not easy for me to say those words because this work, and this city, have been my heart for a decade… While I am stepping down from the job, I am not stepping away from the mission.”
During her tenure, Castiel helped launch initiatives such as the Housing First Coordinating Council, Opioid and Re-Entry Task Forces, and Worcester’s Fitness in the Parks series. She brought medical outreach to the streets with UMass’s Road to Care van and championed stigma-reducing tools such as the Stigma-Free Worcester app. Most recently, she partnered with UMass Chan to develop the Worcester Integrated Health Data Exchange, a collaborative tool to analyze health trends and inequities in the city.
Her work has been recognized at the state level, including appointments to the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission and other key public health boards. She has received numerous accolades, among them the UMass Chan Chancellor’s Medal for Distinguished Service and the 2023 Local Public Health Leadership Award.
Officials say they are reviewing options for Castiel’s successor and will announce plans before she leaves her post.
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