PRESS RELEASE: Dr. Robert Gagnon, a practicing family medicine physician in Lakeville, has been honored by the Plymouth District Medical Society as its 2025 Community Clinician of the Year awardee. Born and raised in Providence, RI, he graduated from Providence College with a BS in biology in 1985 and from the Brown University Program in Medicine in 1989. He completed his residency at The University of South Alabama in Mobile and worked at Holloman Air Force Base for three years from 1992-1995. He moved to #Lakeville in 1995 and started Lakeville Family Medicine, PC, a solo privately owned practice. Dr. Gagnon has been married for 35 years to Patricia Silvia, MD, who is a pediatrician in Taunton. He has coached youth soccer for 20 years and softball for 10 years. He has been volunteering at Gifts to Give for the past 7 years. Gifts to Give is a children’s charity located in Acushnet that repurposes children’s clothes, toys, books and other items, such as strollers and highchairs. These are distributed through a network of social workers, teachers, school nurses and other charities. The organization also runs a thrift store where donated adult clothes, housewares and small appliances are sold at discount prices. The thrift store funds charity. Gift to Give does not accept any government grants. The entire payroll for the organization is $0. Everybody is a volunteer. (fb)

Gov. Maura Healey signed a bill appropriating $240 million to cover claims for the rest of the fiscal year at the Group Insurance Commission, which oversees health insurance for 460,000 public employees, retirees and their families. In January, GIC Executive Director Matthew Veno highlighted the agency’s budget shortfalls as an ongoing concern. “This is the largest variance that we’ve seen in at least a decade, and this is consistent across all of our plans, and is driven primarily by rising provider prices and a couple of other topics,” he said at the time. He added, “We don’t know where this is going to head. My concern is that it is a persistent and steady trend going forward.” (fb)