Janell Forget

Janell Forget is currently the AVP of Risk Management for UMass Memorial Health and is responsible for all Risk Management activities for the UMass system which includes 5 acute care hospitals on 9 campuses, multi-specialty ambulatory clinics and a large behavioral health organization that provides both inpatient and outpatient behavioral health. Janell has over 30 years of pediatric critical care nursing experience and over 20 years of experience in Medical Malpractice defense as an attorney and risk manager and both acute and ambulatory Risk and Compliance Management.

In her 9 years with UMass Memorial Health, Janell has redesigned the risk management program into an enterprise program with close interaction with claims and the self-insurance program. Through her efforts and the change in process, department design and staffing models the system has moved from reactive to proactive risk management. Her approach to risk management focuses on culture, relationship development and education using data to reinforce change and process improvement.

Janell is also the past president of the Massachusetts Society for Health Care Risk Management (MSHRM), former Board Member of the Northern New England Society for Health Care Risk Management, Event Chair for the New England Regional Conference in 2023 and the former chair of the MSHRM Collaborative Call.

Janell received a Distinguished Service Award from the Massachusetts Society for Health Care Risk Management in 2021 for her efforts in re-establishing the MSHRM Collaborative call. She received Risk Professional of the year from the MSHRM Chapter in 2023. Janell is also a member of the ASHRM Faculty who assists with the teaching the HRM 3 curriculum.