Health & Human Services Commissioner Dr. Castiel to Retire After Leading Department for 10 Years

WORCESTER, Mass. - City Manager Eric D. Batista announced Monday the retirement of Health & Human Services (HHS) Commissioner Dr. Matilde Castiel. Her last day with the municipality is Sept. 30, 2025.

Dr. Castiel has been a dedicated and well-respected employee of the City of Worcester for 10 years. Known as a caring and empathetic doctor, she was appointed Commissioner of HHS in 2015, the first Commissioner for the department. Under her leadership, the department expanded to include the Division of Public Health, Elder Affairs, Youth Opportunities, Veterans Services, and Human Rights, which has recently transitioned to the Executive Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

"I want to congratulate Dr. Castiel on an incredibly impactful tenure as a public servant to the City of Worcester," said Batista. "Her dedication to this community has truly been inspiring - from her work to institute a syringe exchange program to launching a Housing First Coordinating Council to her leadership throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, running equity-based vaccination campaigns and shelters - she has proven herself as a compassionate problem solver and will leave a lasting legacy."

Dr. Castiel is originally from Cuba and immigrated to the United States in 1962. She has worked as a Board-certified physician in Internal Medicine in the Worcester community for 36 years, with time at UMass Memorial Medical Center and Family Health Center of Worcester. She is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, and Psychiatry at UMass Chan Medical School.

"I am retiring after 10 years. It's not easy for me to say those words because this work, and this city, have been my heart for a decade," said Dr. Castiel. "I have had the extraordinary privilege of serving a community I love alongside people who inspire me every single day. Together, we have faced enormous challenges and built bold, beautiful solutions. I have seen what's possible when compassion leads, when equity guides, and when justice is more than a goal but truly is a practice. This work has been more than a job; it has been my purpose, and while I am stepping down from the job, I am not stepping away from the mission. I will always be part of this city and the people who gave me the opportunity of a lifetime."

During Dr. Castiel's tenure, HHS prioritized homelessness and opioid treatment by staffing the department with homeless outreach coordinators and recovery coaches and establishing a Housing First Coordinating Council, Re-Entry Task Force, Opioid Task Force, and Mayor's Mental Health Task Force. Under her leadership, the department brought UMass's Road to Care van to Worcester, providing medical care to the unhoused.

She was integral in leading destigmatization efforts in Worcester around challenges such as substance use disorder and mental health by uplifting the voices of individuals with lived experience and hiring recovery coaches to work directly in the community. Under her leadership, HHS partnered with Worcester Polytechnic Institute to launch the Stigma-Free Worcester application to bring support services and treatment options to individuals in recovery.

Dr. Castiel led efforts to establish HHS's Fitness in the Parks series. In 2024, HHS partnered with National Fitness Campaign and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts to bring a fitness court to University Park in the Main South neighborhood, providing free access to high-quality exercise.

Most recently, she worked with UMass Chan Medical School to create the Worcester Integrated Health Data Exchange, which is a partnership amongst health care agencies that provide Worcester health data to help produce a comprehensive understanding of health inequities, trends, risk factors, and outcomes, to enhance the community's health management capabilities.

In 2022, Dr. Castiel was appointed by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker to the Health Policy Commission. She was also appointed to the Harm Reduction Commission and the Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund and has given lectures both locally and nationally on these topics. Dr. Castiel was also part of the Executive Committee that formed the Massachusetts Large Cities Health Coalition, of which she served as chair until recently.

Dr. Castiel is a recipient of the 2019 UMass Chan Medical School Chancellor's Medal for Distinguished Service, 2019 Edward M. Kennedy Health Award for Distinguished Service, Family Health Healthy Communities Award, 2023 Local Public Health Leadership Award from the Massachusetts Association of Public Health, and the Anna Maria Presidential Leadership Award, among many more.

The administration is exploring its options for the role of HHS Commissioner and will communicate its plan prior to Dr. Castiel's departure.