Pappas Working Group

The Governor appointed the Pappas Working Group (PWG) to conduct a review of the pediatric care offered at Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children (PRHC) and make viable assessments about the best provision of high-quality pediatric care within the public health hospital system (PHHS).

 The PWG was able to develop a shared understanding on a set of findings, which can be found in the PWG Final Report below. 

About the working group

On January 22, 2025, the Governor filed a fiscal year 2026 (FY26) budget proposal, known as House 1, including an initiative of the Department of Public Health (DPH) to relocate and modernize Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children (PRHC) from its current Canton location to the campus of Western Massachusetts Hospital (WMH) in Westfield. The proposal was driven by a deep commitment to serving children with multiple disabilities and complex medical needs who have been unable to find the medical support they need and deserve in their home or community.  

In subsequent weeks, the Governor heard directly from patients, families and staff about the important role that PRHC plays in the delivery of care.  Deeply grateful for their feedback, as well as for the hard work of the teams at DPH focused on providing all patients with the high-quality, modernized, specialized care they need and deserve, the Governor directed DPH to pause the plan to relocate PRHC on February 25, 2025.

The Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) and the Department of Public Health (DPH) convened the Pappas Working Group (PWG), co-chaired by Ted Constan, DPH Deputy Commissioner of Public Health Hospitals and Charles Doody, Canton Town Administrator.