WORCESTER—Worcester Division of Public Health Medical Director Dr. Michael Hirsh retires from his role with the city after 13 years, City Manager Eric Batista announced Friday.
Hirsh’s last day on the job is Dec. 12. He was appointed medical director in 2012 after establishing a working relationship with the city through his role as Division Chief of Pediatric Surgery and Trauma at UMass Memorial Medical Center.
During his tenure, Hirsh oversaw several significant milestones for the Division of Public Health, including its designation as the first nationally accredited public health division in Massachusetts and its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My proudest moment at WDPH was serving as a Public Information Officer during the pandemic,” Hirsh said, “leading over 200 press conferences with the city manager and mayor and helping to train the Vaccine Corps of medical students who helped administer the COVID vaccine beginning in January 2021.”
From 2012 to 2014, Hirsh also served as Acting Commissioner of the then Department of Public Health. As medical director, he was responsible for overseeing local infection control policy, including decisions related to school closures, health care workforce regulations and vaccine distribution.
In the announcement, Batista credited Hirsh with a career focused on prevention as well as treatment. “Dr. Hirsh has been a champion for the health of Worcester residents in all aspects of his life,” Batista said, noting his work during the pandemic and his broader public health efforts.
Hirsh grew up in New York City and began his medical career after graduating from Harvard University in 1979. He completed surgical residencies at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and Temple University’s St. Christopher Hospital for Children.
The announcement also highlighted Dr. Hirsh’s long-standing work in gun violence prevention, which began after a fellow resident at Columbia was killed in an act of gun violence in 1981. He later cofounded the Goods for Guns Buyback program in Pittsburgh in 1994 and founded a similar program in Worcester in 2002. Both programs remain active.
UMass Memorial Health President and CEO Dr. Eric Dickson praised Hirsh’s service in the announcement, saying the health system “deeply appreciates” his leadership and its impact on the community. Dickson said UMass Memorial Health is working with the Division of Public Health to identify a successor.
Hirsh joined UMass Memorial as an attending physician in 1986 and spent most of his career there, aside from a nine-year period in Pittsburgh. While no longer practicing as a surgeon, he continues to serve as assistant vice provost for health and wellness and chief quality officer for the Department of Surgery at UMass Chan School of Medicine.
The city administration is working with UMass to fill the medical director position, according to the announcement.
