Judy Faulkner Wins Cambridge Health Alliance’s Art of Healing Award

Why It Matters

Epic’s philanthropy strengthens safety‑net hospitals, showing how tech leaders can drive equitable care while deepening long‑term vendor relationships.

Key Takeaways

• Epic’s donations funded CHA’s patient‑access initiatives and Birth Center renovation.
• Partnership spans 20+ years, enabling early multilingual MyChart adoption.
• CHA first system to fully integrate Epic Video Client with interpreter services.
• Award highlights tech CEOs’ influence on community health equity.

Pulse Analysis

Judy Faulkner, the founder and chief executive of Epic Systems, was honored with Cambridge Health Alliance’s Art of Healing Award on June 5 in Everett, Massachusetts. The accolade celebrates her and Epic’s sustained charitable giving that has directly financed programs to broaden patient access and supported the recent renovation of CHA’s Birth Center. By channeling resources into a safety‑net health system, Epic demonstrates how a leading electronic health‑record vendor can leverage its financial clout to address gaps in underserved communities, reinforcing the company’s stated mission of improving care for generations.

The award also shines a light on a partnership that dates back more than two decades. During that time, CHA pioneered the early adoption of Spanish‑ and Portuguese‑language MyChart portals, giving non‑English‑speaking patients real‑time access to their records. More recently, the health system became the first to fully integrate Epic’s Video Client with interpreter services, a move that has streamlined virtual visits for limited‑English‑proficiency patients. These innovations illustrate how deep vendor‑client relationships can accelerate interoperability and patient‑centered design, delivering measurable improvements in satisfaction and outcomes.

For the broader health‑tech industry, Faulkner’s recognition signals a growing expectation that technology leaders play an active role in community health stewardship. As payers and regulators increasingly tie reimbursement to equity metrics, vendors that embed philanthropy and collaborative development into their business models may gain a competitive edge. Epic’s approach—combining product excellence with targeted charitable investments—offers a template for other firms seeking to align profit motives with public‑health objectives, a balance that could shape the next wave of digital health innovation.