The Heart of the Commonwealth
Worcester Senior Report
Worcester · Massachusetts
Because getting older should come with better information, not less of it.
Services & Resources
Seeing a doctor without driving across town, especially in winter.
Not every senior can make it to an appointment, especially in the winter when Worcester roads get icy. Telehealth has become a real option, and we cover which providers offer easy-to-use video visits for older adults who might not be tech-savvy. We also report on which platforms work best for folks with hearing or vision issues.
Every number below was read on the organisation's own website on 28 and 30 September 2026. Where one could not be, the listing says so.
Reliant patients can see their own doctor or specialist by video on a telephone, tablet or computer, when the doctor judges it can be done that way.
Reliant patients only. Book through your own surgery or by message. Their site says somebody whose sight is poor may need a relative to help set it up. They also run same-day video visits for minor illness.
For veterans signed up with the VA: ring and ask whether what you need can be done by telephone or video instead of the drive to the clinic.
Worcester VA Clinic: 403 Belmont St., first floor, Worcester, MA 01604
Veterans enrolled with the VA only. The Worcester clinic's own line is 508-856-0104 (TTY 711), Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Mental health: 413-584-4040, extension 1052.
UMass Memorial patients can see their own doctor by video instead of travelling, for primary care and for specialties such as heart, cancer and neurology. Visits are set up through the myChart patient website, and staff ring a few days beforehand to help you get ready.
Telephone line: Monday to Friday, 7am to 8pm.
The number is also written 855-UMASS-MD. Ask your own doctor's office first whether your appointment can be done by video.
Patients of the Family Health Center can have a video appointment from home. A text message with a link arrives just before the appointment, and there is no app to download.
You need a phone that can receive text messages. Ring the same number to book or change a video appointment. The health centre itself is listed under Healthcare Facilities.
A Worcester counselling practice that sees people by live video as well as in the room, for depression, anxiety and the rest.
9 Hammond St., Worcester, MA 01610
Office, Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
Their site says they take all the main public and private insurance - ring to check your own.
The state office that takes up a complaint with your telephone, cable or internet company when you have got nowhere yourself.
Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Free. There is a complaint form on their site as well.
With a library card you can borrow a portable Wi-Fi hotspot from the library's 'Library of Things', so you can get online at home for video visits. E-readers can also be borrowed.
3 Salem Sq., Worcester, MA 01608
Loans are for up to three weeks, with up to two renewals depending on the waiting list, and only one hotspot at a time. Place a hold through the online catalogue and choose your branch; not every branch has them. The library itself is listed under Government.
A cheaper home internet plan from Spectrum, Worcester's cable company, for households where someone receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or a household member takes part in the school lunch programme. Spectrum's page says it starts at $25 a month and includes the modem.
Spectrum's page gives no telephone number, only online enrolment, so apply online or ask a family member to help. The City of Worcester names Spectrum/Charter as the city's cable provider.
The city office that deals with complaints about Charter (Spectrum), the cable and internet company that serves Worcester.
You can also email cableservices@worcesterma.gov.
A state programme that gives specially adapted telephones, landline or mobile, to Massachusetts residents with a permanent disability, including hearing, sight, speech, memory or movement problems. Depending on income, the phone may be free or cost less.
Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm.
The number works for voice and TTY. The programme does not pay for a mobile phone plan, only the device.
The state agency for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. It arranges sign language (ASL) interpreters and CART live captioners, which can make a doctor's visit, by video or in person, easier to follow, and offers other community services.
Toll-free TTY: 800-530-7570. The main office line, 617-740-1600, is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Videophone: 617-326-7546. The office is in Boston, but services cover the whole state.
The city's Senior Center has a computer lab with instruction, useful if you want help getting online, for example to join video appointments. Listed here as well as under Government because this entry is for the computer help, not the centre as a whole.
128 Providence Street, Worcester, MA 01604
Monday to Friday, 9am to 4:30pm.
Ring to ask when the next class or drop-in session is. The Senior Center can also help with transport to get there.
A specially trained paramedic comes to the home of a UMass Memorial patient with an urgent or long-term health problem and checks them using portable equipment, while talking to UMass Memorial doctors by video. It can save a trip to the emergency room.
Visits can be requested 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
You cannot book this yourself: your UMass Memorial doctor, specialist or hospital team has to request the visit. Patients can ring 855-UMASS-MD for more information.
Hospital-level care in your own home for short-term illnesses such as skin infections, flu, worsening heart failure or kidney problems. Nurses or paramedics visit at least twice a day, a doctor checks in daily, and your temperature, heart rate and blood pressure are watched remotely, with help available at any hour.
You are usually transferred into it from a UMass Memorial hospital or emergency department, so ask the hospital team whether you qualify. The number is also written 855-UMASS-MD.
A free 24-hour telephone line where Fallon Health members can speak to a registered nurse about symptoms and be told where to go for care, or be put through to their doctor.
24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
For Fallon Health members only; the number is on the back of your member card. NaviCare members should ring 1-877-700-6996 instead, and after hours are put through to the nurses. TDD/TTY: 1-800-848-0160.
Members of CCA's Senior Care Options plan (for people on both MassHealth and Medicare) can speak to a nurse or behavioural health clinician at any hour. For urgent problems, CCA's instED service can send a paramedic to the home.
Nurse line: 24 hours a day. Member Services on the same number: 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week.
CCA members only. TTY 711. The instED home urgent care line is 833-946-7833, from 8am to 10pm.
Blue Cross members can ring a nurse at any hour for advice on symptoms and on whether to see a doctor, go to urgent care or go to hospital.
24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
For Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts members. The number is also written 1-888-247-BLUE.