UMass Memorial not yet in surge but preparing for one

Photo | Grant Welker UMass Memorial Health Care President and CEO Eric Dickson

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By Grant Welker

UMass Memorial Health Care is not yet in a coronavirus surge but is preparing for one as cases rise locally and statewide, President and CEO Eric Dickson said in a staffwide memo Friday.

The UMass Memorial system — which includes the Worcester medical centers, Marlborough Hospital, Clinton Hospital and HealthAlliance and Leominster — has 32 inpatient coronavirus cases, Dickson said. That places it short of what the hospital network would consider a second surge: 50 to 100 inpatient cases. But hospital officials are keeping a close eye on case numbers and will alert staff if response efforts need to be escalated, he said.

"The good news is that we have capacity to treat COVID-19 patients at all of our entities and currently do not need to use any of our surge spaces," Dickson said. "In fact, I want to emphasize that it’s unlikely we will see the same intensity as we did with the surge in April and May."

One reason for fewer hospitalizations so far during the rise in cases this fall has been that a bigger bulk of cases have been in younger residents, who are less likely to require inpatient care, Dickson said.

UMass Memorial has been seeing an increase in staff cases, which Dickson and others have used as an occasion to remind caregivers to be strict with infection control practices.

On Wednesday, two UMass Memorial executives — Chief Medical Officer Dr. Andrew Karson and Chief Nursing Officer Justin Precourt — told staff that UMass Memorial Medical Center has been averaging four new positive caregiver cases each day for the past week, urging staff to be more vigilant with personal protective equipment and other precautions. The medical center was averaging about one new caregiver case each week during the summer, a rate that increased more recently to one a week before the even sharper increase, they said.

UMass Memorial has also required staff to self-report their symptoms every work day and to stay home if feeling sick.

The hospital system, Dickson said, has also begun planning for an eventual coronavirus vaccination process. UMass Memorial has received preliminary direction from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he said, but doesn't yet know what vaccines will be available or when. Officials are planning for a vaccine's availability by the end of the year or early January.

UMass Memorial's planning comes as Worcester County coronavirus cases hit the highest level since early June in the week ending Thursday, with 791 new cases. Across Central Massachusetts, 23 cities and towns — more than one in four for the region — are now included in the state Department of Public Health's highest-risk categories for the number of new cases over the past two weeks.