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Heywood Hospital

Non-profit community hospital providing acute care

Behavioral Health RN Care Coordinator

Part-TimeDeadline 3/1/27
$39.58 - $78.93/hr
Mid
Bachelor's
Gardner, MA, USA
In Person
Medical, Clinical & Veterinary

About the job

Requirements
  • A current Massachusetts Registered Nurse license.
  • Previous utilization review or quality assurance experience.
  • At least 2 years of healthcare experience within behavioral health and/or the insurance industry.
  • Experience with discharge planning involving care transitions, referral processes, patient preference and choice, services, patient and family satisfaction, and post-discharge follow-up.
  • Proficient computer skills.
  • Effective written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
  • Strong critical-thinking ability.
  • Ability to multitask and remain flexible.
Responsibilities
  • Provide clinical information to payers, monitor length of stay, obtain necessary care authorizations, and appeal denials when indicated.
  • Follow up on missing documentation for medical necessity and identify the responsible discipline for supporting documentation.
  • Track and trend opportunities for improvement related to late insurance reviews and extended lengths of stay.
  • Complete daily or insurer-required concurrent and retrospective utilization reviews for psychiatric appropriateness using approved hospital criteria.
  • Manage ABN and HINN notices, Medicare Important Message appeals, status updates, and related documentation.
  • Educate patients, families, and care providers about continuing care, care management, length of stay, rehospitalization, and disease management.
  • Participate in daily discharge-planning teams and multidisciplinary rounds.
  • Collaborate with the multidisciplinary team to assess patient needs, post-acute care, level of care, resources, and referrals.
  • Review medical records for abnormal findings, complications, delays, and deviations from expected clinical outcomes; report findings to providers or the director and document interventions.
  • Maintain current knowledge of regulatory requirements, insurance-review procedures, forms, and portal updates.
  • Redesign systems to improve performance and prioritize projects and tasks to meet deadlines and customer needs.
  • Assist with preparing workflow reports and statistics.
  • Review pre-admission screening forms and document authorized service dates and insurer-specific communications.
  • Correct pre-authorization issues and obtain authorization for patients admitted without proper authorization.
  • Conduct comprehensive daily utilization reviews for inpatient psychiatric and substance-use-disorder patients.
  • Request administratively necessary days when patients no longer meet inpatient criteria and determine applicable state involvement for Department of Mental Health clients.
  • Participate in 72-hour meetings with patients, healthcare proxies, families or guardians, social workers, and unit leaders to support education and advance discharge planning.
  • Attend insurer collaboration meetings to review statistical trends, complex cases, and quality reports.
  • Assess denials within one week, provide supporting documentation, and record interventions in the utilization-review electronic medical record section.
  • Coordinate medical-director and peer-to-peer reviews according to insurance regulations.
  • Prepare appeal letters, termination letters, discharge notices, Medicare Outpatient Observation Notices, and Important Messages in accordance with regulatory standards and department policies.
  • Report variances and trends to the director and submit completed denials and appeals.
  • Collaborate with the Director of Behavioral Health and denial-management team to resolve behavioral-health patient account payment denials.
  • Build rapport and respond to the needs of physicians, managed-care reviewers, healthcare team members, third-party payers, outside reviewers, and vendors.
  • Collaborate with the behavioral-health social worker throughout admission to support discharge-planning needs.
  • Maintain familiarity with behavioral-health social-work functions, including discharge planning, care coordination, community referrals, family and collateral communication, resource identification, and documentation requirements, to support continuity of care during social-worker absences or increased unit need.
  • Perform other job-related duties assigned by the director or designee.
Desired Qualifications
  • Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN).

About the company

Heywood Hospital is a nonprofit, community-owned acute-care hospital in Gardner, Massachusetts, and part of the Heywood Healthcare system. It provides emergency and intensive care, maternity, orthopedics, mental health, oncology, and advanced imaging across 134 beds, delivering care through inpatient units, outpatient clinics, and affiliated centers with about 1,000 staff and 200 physicians. The hospital operates within a local governance model and is part of an independent system that includes Athol Hospital and Heywood Medical Group, focusing on local, patient-centered care for North Central Massachusetts and nearby New Hampshire. Its goal is to maintain accessible, locally anchored healthcare by expanding services, ensuring financial stability, and keeping decision-making rooted in the community.

Company Size

201-500

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

Gardner, Massachusetts

Founded

1907

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Most services resumed by October 31, 2025, restoring outpatient, inpatient, and diagnostics.
  • CMS rated Heywood Hospital four stars in February 2026, supporting reimbursement and recruiting.
  • Community Foundation funded $150,000 for advanced ultrasound, modernizing diagnostics in March 2026.

What critics are saying

  • October 2025 cyberattack forced IT offline; breach notifications will follow investigation.
  • Leapfrog gave Heywood Hospital a D on February 24, 2026, signaling quality weakness.
  • Any renewed billing or security failure could push patients toward regional competitors.

What makes Heywood Hospital unique

  • Independent community-owned system preserves local care in Gardner and Athol.
  • Exited Chapter 11 on September 30, 2024 as a stand-alone provider.
  • Added a helipad in June 2026, improving emergency transfers regionally.

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Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • Life Insurance
  • Disability Insurance
  • Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account
  • Unlimited Paid Time Off
  • Flexible Work Hours
  • Remote Work Options
  • Paid Vacation
  • Paid Sick Leave
  • Paid Holidays

Company News

Franklin County Now
Sep 1st, 2026
Heyood Healthcare purchases clinic in Athol.

Heyood Healthcare purchases clinic in Athol. By Franklin County Now September 1, 2026 9:26 am ATHOL, MA (FRANKLIN COUNTY NOW) - The Heywood Healthcare organization has purchased the former North Quabbin Family Physicians property at 201 South Main Street in Athol. The former clinic closed last year and was sold for just over $1.1 million. The plan is to open it has a family and pediatrics facility.

Worcester Business Journal
May 29th, 2026
Heywood names UMass Memorial's Babu as next chief medical officer.

Heywood names UMass Memorial's Babu as next chief medical officer. May 29, 2026 Gardner-based Heywood Healthcare has named Dr. Kavita Babu, a UMass Memorial Health medical director and UMass Chan Medical School professor, as its new chief medical officer and vice president of medical affairs. "Dr. Babu's depth of experience, clinical expertise, and commitment to patient-centered care make her an outstanding addition to our leadership team," Heywood President and CEO Rozanna Penney said in announcing Babu's hire Thursday. Babu has worked for UMass Memorial and UMass Chan for more than a decade, most recently serving as medical director of community benefits and as an emergency physician. She is a professor of emergency medicine. Babu will replace outgoing Heywood CMO Dr. Frank Sweeney, who announced plans to return to retirement in January. Sweeney came out of retirement to serve as Heywood's CMO in January 2025, as the network worked to regain its footing following a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Babu holds a bachelor's degree and doctor of medicine degree from Brown University in Rhode Island, as well as an MBA from the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst. She has a reputation as a strong community advocate, having served as UMass Memorial's first chief opioid officer, co-director of UMass Memorial Medical Center's Medical Respite program, and founder of the UMass Memorial's Road to Care, a mobile clinic that provides free medical care to people with housing and food insecurity, and/or substance use disorder. Combatting and responding to opioid abuse and its fallout is a particular specialty of hers. Heywood operates hospitals in Gardner and Athol, as well as Heywood Medical Group, a nonprofit multi-specialty and primary care group. Monica Benevides is a correspondent for Worcester Business Journal. - Digital Partners -

Migliaccio & Rathod LLP
Dec 30th, 2025
Heywood Hospital Data Breach Investigation

Heywood Hospital Data Breach investigation. Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is investigating the possible Heywood Hospital Data Breach, impacting an undetermined number of individuals and their personal information. What happened? On December 27, 2025, dark web monitoring sites reported that Heywood Hospital had been named as a victim of a data breach. Little information is available yet about the nature of the breach or the information that may have been involved, but the affected information is believed to include the following sensitive data forms: * Names * Email Addresses * Phone Numbers * Home Addresses * Social Security Numbers All of the information possibly stolen is likely valuable and dangerous to affected victims. As is likely to be the case with the Heywood Hospital data breach, in previous cyberattacks, victims of data theft have noticed identity theft attempts ranging from fraudulent charges on bank accounts or credit cards, to unauthorized credit card applications, to medical services or government services ordered in their name, to their information being posted on the dark web, to a massive uptick in the number of spam text messages, calls and emails received. Are you concerned that you might be affected by the Heywood Hospital data breach? If you have concerns that you have been affected by this data breach, and/or have experienced suspicious activity recently, Migliaccio & Rathod LLP would like to hear from you. Please complete the contact form on this page, send Migliaccio & Rathod LLP an email at [email protected], or give Migliaccio & Rathod LLP a call at (202) 470-3520. The following will ask for your contact information so that Migliaccio & Rathod LLP may reach you to talk about potential claims. This information is for its records only and will not be shared. By continuing, you consent to the collection of this information for these limited purposes. Did you receive a notification that you were affected by the data breach? Would you like to join its newsletter to receive notifications about other investigations Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is looking into, as well as updates on ongoing cases? The lawyers at Migliaccio & Rathod LLP have years of experience in class action litigation against large corporations, including in cases involving data breaches such as this. More information about its current cases and investigations is available on its blog. Data Breach FAQ. I received a notice that my information may have been involved in a data breach. What should I do? Take the notification seriously and read it carefully. It should outline what specific information was affected (e.g., name, Social Security number, legal case data). Even if you believe your risk is minimal, it's best to take proactive steps to protect yourself. Some of these recommended steps can be found listed below. What immediate actions should I take? * Monitor your financial accounts - Regularly check your bank, credit card, and online accounts for unauthorized transactions. * Change your passwords - Update passwords for any accounts that may be connected to the breach. Avoid reusing old or similar passwords. Use a password manager if needed. * Set up two-factor authentication (2FA) - Enable 2FA on your email, banking, and other sensitive accounts to add an extra layer of protection. * Place a fraud alert or credit freeze - Contact one of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) to place a fraud alert or freeze your credit report. This makes it harder for someone to open new accounts in your name. What is credit monitoring, and how should I use it? Credit monitoring tracks your credit report for changes or suspicious activity. If the organization that was breached offers this service for free, it's highly recommended you enroll. These services can alert you quickly to potential fraud and prevent further damage in turn. How long do I need to stay vigilant? The effects of a data breach can surface months or even years later. Stay alert to signs of identity theft for at least 12 - 24 months. Keep an eye on your credit reports, mail, and any unfamiliar account activity. Who can I contact if I need help? Use the contact details provided in the breach notification. You can also report identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission at www.identitytheft.gov for recovery resources.