Photo | Courtesy | UMass Memorial Health Care
A tent is being set up to screen potential coronavirus cases at UMass Memorial Medical Center's University Campus in Worcester.
March 13, 2020
Leonard Morse closure delayed, UMass Memorial sets up screening tent
Photo | Google
Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick
By Grant Welker
Leonard Morse Hospital's planned closure of acute care services in Natick has been put on hold as medical facilities step up their response to the coronavirus pandemic.
MetroWest Medical Center, of which Leonard Morse is a part, announced the temporary change in plans late Thursday, saying the Natick campus will retain its existing care services for the foreseeable future.
“We will revisit our plans to close acute care services at Leonard Morse Hospital at a future date but not until this crisis has passed," Andrew Harding, the CEO of MetroWest Medical Center, said in a statement.
In January, MetroWest Medical Center notified the state it was narrowing the focus of the Leonard Morse Hospital campus to behavioral health care.
[Related: Central Mass. healthcare providers limiting visits in coronavirus precaution]
UMass Memorial Medical Center has set up a screening tent for coronavirus outside its University Campus in Worcester to limit exposure to others at the hospital.
Patients will be screened in the temporary area and health providers will be prepared to care for any health needs there once the tent is set up next week, UMass said Thursday evening. The tent is on loan from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
UMass Memorial and other medical facilities are taking increased precautions as the outbreak — declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization — expanded to a reported 108 cases in Massachusetts as of late Thursday. All but six of the reported cases remained presumptive cases until they can be confirmed, according to the Department of Public Health.
The number of Worcester County cases remained at one. Middlesex County had a reported 49 cases and Norfolk County 24. In 89 of the state's 108 cases, hospitalization has not been required. Most of the cases, 82, are tied to a Biogen conference held in Boston in late February.
[Related: 'It's like a ghost town:' Worcester retailers impacted by coronavirus]
The World Health Organization has reported 1,264 cases in the United States as of Friday morning. Worldwide, more than 132,000 cases have been confirmed in 123 countries, including nearly 5,000 deaths, according to the group.
UMass Memorial, Saint Vincent Hospital, Milford Regional Medical Center, Harrington Hospital, Heywood Hospital and others have put strict visitor policies in place starting this week. In most cases, children, those who've traveled internationally, and those experiencing symptoms or exposed to someone with coronavirus are banned. Most patients are limited to one visitor at a time.
[Related: Railers, DCU Center, Hanover Theatre cancel upcoming events]
The state has required similar visitor restrictions for assisted-living facilities.
Central Massachusetts hospitals have reported increasing staff training for using protective equipment during the outbreak.
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