SHARE Updates: Awards, UBT Fairs, AI & More

2026 UMass Memorial System-Wide Innovators of the Year

SHARE was well represented at this year’s Innovator of the Year Awards, with several SHARE Unit Based Teams nominated, and a few winners, including the Hand Clinic UBT, which garnered the prize for 2026 Idea Winner

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work

If you watched UMass Memorial’s presentation of this year’s Innovator of the Year Awards, you know that our hospital CEO Eric Dickson concluded that celebration with several remarks about Artificial Intelligence, and even described that UBTs have begun using AI in their meetings to solve problems. SHARE is having many conversations among our members — and with academics and labor leaders around the country — to understand the role of these new technologies, and the opportunities and risks that come with them.

One key aspect of this work is a partnership with a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), working together to design a playbook for worker-driven implementation of AI tools. Learn more about SHARE and AI in this blog post.

2026 Bee Award Goes to Evan Zanauskas

SHARE is excited for Evan Zanauskas, a PCT II working on 4 East, who is the recipient of the most recent UMass Memorial Bee Award. Evan is the first graduate of the PCT Pathway Program to receive this distinction. The Pathway Program has been a great success, and we expect to see more Pathway opportunities on the way. Congratulations, Evan!

Last Call for Responses to SHARE’s “Respect in the Workplace” Survey

As we prepare for Contract Negotiations this Summer, SHARE wants to understand your perspective and know what matters to you, if you haven’t yet completed the Respect in the Workplace Survey, please do so now.

This is the second in a series of three surveys. The final survey, relating to top priorities and Artificial Intelligence, is coming soon.

2026 UBT Fairs Off to a Great Start

The SHARE-UMass Memorial Partnership Office recently hosted UBT Fairs at the University and Memorial Campuses. Roughly 1500 participants have come to the Fairs to celebrate the ways that SHARE members are making their work better through Unit Based Teams. SHARE members compared notes about how to use each others’ ideas in their own departments. Several guests came from afar and remarked about the importance of this unique work that SHARE members are doing, including healthcare leaders from around the country, leaders from our parent union at AFSCME International, and researchers from MIT, not to mention leaders from our own hospital system, many of whom got caught up with the rest of us, singing a rousing song about UBTs to the tune of Abba’s “Dancing Queen.”

Mark your calendars: the next UBT Fair will be at the Hahnemann Campus in the main lobby from noon-1pm on Wednesday, May 20.