Nantucket Summit
The Nantucket Summit is a 2.5-day conference in Nantucket, Massachusetts that brings together national operational leaders, clinicians, policymakers, and community partners who deliver healthcare in seasonal, remote and destination locations. The conference explores how these types of health systems can deliver equitable, sustainable, and high-quality care despite the significant unique challenges they face such as geographic isolation, sharp fluctuations in complex and disparate patient populations, workforce housing shortages, and limited transport access.
Registration will open in the Spring. Conference size is limited, please act early to secure your space.
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Navigating Seasonal, Remote, and Destination Healthcare
The Summit is hosted by Nantucket Cottage Hospital, a 14-bed rural hospital that cares for a community 30 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The summit offers dual tracks – Clinical and Operational Leadership – with opportunities for hands-on workshops, peer-to-peer exchanges, and multi-disciplinary panels. Participants are eligible for education credits.
Themes discussed during the Summit will include:
- Workforce and Housing: innovative strategies to recruit and retain staff in communities where the high cost of housing creates pay gaps and barriers to stability.
- Emergency Management: preparing for and responding to surge events, disasters, and emergencies in places with no easy exit.
- Seasonal Care Coordination: sustainable models for medically complex patients, based on Nantucket’s own SCC approach.
- Social Determinants of Health: confronting food insecurity, inequitable wages, and language barriers faced by seasonal workers.
- Public Health and Preparedness: tackling behavioral health, surge management, and environmental health challenges unique to resort and island settings.
- Philanthropy and Community Investment: leveraging donor engagement and strategic giving to fund workforce housing, expand access to care, and sustain essential services in rural, island, and seasonal communities where geographic isolation and limited resources amplify need.
Are you interested in being a speaker? Email us to discuss your idea!
Summit details
David Lieberman, MD,
Course Director
- Day 1 — Wednesday, October 7, 2026
- Theme: “Setting the Stage: Why Seasonal Medicine Is Different”
- A full day dedicated to framing the context of seasonal and remote healthcare delivery.
- Day 2 — Thursday, October 8, 2026
- Theme: “Building Sustainable Systems for Communities at the Edge” An intensive day of cross-disciplinary learning and applied skills.
- Day 3 — Friday, October 9, 2026
- Theme: “From Lessons to Legacy — Sustaining Care Beyond the Season”
- A half-day focused on peer learning, best-practice sharing, and actionable takeaways.
Learning Objectives
By the conclusion of this summit, participants will be able to:
- Describe key challenges in providing healthcare for seasonal and remote populations.
- Implement strategies for emergency and surge response in limited-access environments.
- Identify sustainable workforce and housing solutions for high-cost, high-turnover regions.
- Apply innovative care coordination and data-sharing practices across rural, island, and mainland systems.
- Design collaborative approaches that improve health equity, behavioral health access, and chronic disease management in transient populations.
Audience
This conference is designed for:
- Physicians, PAs, NPs, Nurses
- EMS and Emergency Preparedness Professionals
- Hospital Executives, COOs, and Medical Directors
- Public Health Officials and Rural Health Administrators
- Policy Leaders, Philanthropic Partners, and Community Stakeholders
Educational Credit
Participants may earn up to 16.0 hours of continuing education credit (CME, CNE, and CEU) through joint accreditation with Mass General Brigham and Nantucket Cottage Hospital.
Desired Outcomes
- Cross system playbook for seasonal surges (clinical ops, ED throughput, transport, telehealth, pop health, and behavioral health).
- Actionable workforce solutions (housing, visa pathways, training pipelines, float pools).
- Shared data standards & mutual aid MOUs across similar destinations.
- A network for year round peer consultation and quarterly benchmarking.
Travel Information
Nantucket is an island located 30-miles off the coast of Massachusetts.
Travel by Air:
Nantucket Memorial Airport (ACK) offers year-round flights from Boston, MA, Hyannis, MA, and New Bedford, MA, with seasonal service from New York, Washington, D.C., and other major cities. Several airlines serve Nantucket:
- Cape Air: Year-round service from Boston and Hyannis.
- JetBlue: Seasonal service from Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C.
- American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United: Seasonal service from major hubs like New York and Washington, D.C.
Travel by Water:
High-Speed and Traditional Ferry Services
Several ferry services operate between Nantucket and mainland terminals, offering convenient connections to nearby destinations such as Cape Cod, New Bedford, Martha’s Vineyard, and even New York City seasonally. Below are the main providers:
Hy-Line Cruises
Hy-Line Cruises offers high-speed ferry service to and from Nantucket, with a one-hour travel time.
Steamship Authority
The Steamship Authority provides multiple travel options:
- High-speed ferry service (one-hour travel time).
- Traditional ferry service (approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes).
- Vehicle ferry service for cars and trucks.
SeaStreak Ferry Service
The SeaStreak Ferry offers seasonal service between Nantucket and destinations like New York City, New Jersey, Martha’s Vineyard, and New Bedford.
Hotel Information
The Summit will take place at two centrally-located downtown resorts – The White Elephant and The Nantucket Hotel. Both resorts will offer room block accommodations.