The Fairfield University alumnus was recognized for expanding access to care and for mentoring the next generation of healthcare leaders.
When Fairfield University’s Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies prepares advanced practice nurses, it instills clinical excellence and core Jesuit values such as service to others and cura personalis—a Latin phrase that translates to “care for the whole person.” Few embody those ideals more clearly than alumnus Michael DeMasi DNP’18, APRN, FNP-BC.
Recently honored with a Future of Healthcare Award by the Greater Bridgeport Medical Association, Dr. DeMasi is one of ten healthcare professionals under 40 recognized for advancing patient care through innovation, compassion, and service.
Expanding Access to Patient Care
As director of Sage Healthcare and the BRM’s Resource Center, Dr. DeMasi leads a free multidisciplinary community clinic that provides primary care, behavioral health services, physical therapy, preventive services, and health education at no cost to patients.
Sage serves not only those staying at the Bridgeport Rescue Mission but also those in the surrounding Bridgeport community. In 2025, the clinic documented more than 6,500 healthcare encounters.
“I think what really drove me toward this work was repeatedly seeing that the problem often was not that medicine lacked an answer but that the patient could not get to the answer,” Dr. DeMasi said. “People go without care because they do not have insurance, transportation, money for medicine, and a variety of other reasons. Once you see how much difference relatively simple access can make in someone’s life, it becomes very difficult to ignore.”
