UMass Memorial Health announced on Tuesday it is in the process of closing the DCU Center field hospital for the second time since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in spring 2020.
“We have begun the process of demobilizing the UMass Memorial DCU Center Field Hospital and expect to fully clear the facility within the next two weeks,” said UMass Memorial spokesperson Anthony Berry, in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
The field hospital was reopened to patients on Dec. 6. The healthcare provider originally announced plans to close clinical operations at the field hospital in March, as patient numbers in the emergency facility decreased. The decommissioning, which was announced Tuesday, was originally slated for mid-April, pending case trends, which increased in late March before once again declining.
Some 650 patients were cared for at the field hospital during the second coronavirus surge this winter, according to UMass. During both surges, the field hospital cared for nearly 1,000.
