UMass to rezone Beaumont to address hospital bed shortage

Photo | Google Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center in Worcester

Write a Comment

By Sloane M. Perron

UMass Memorial Health in Worcester filed a rezoning petition for the former Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center as part of an effort to add acute care medical-surgical beds to the UMass Memorial Medical Center’s University campus, according to a Thursday announcement.

UMass Memorial purchased the Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center property located at 378 Plantation St., adjacent to the UMass Memorial University campus, for $23.5 million in August.

Beaumont would add 71 hospital beds to the University campus. UMass Memorial Medical Center currently has 842 beds combined at its University and Memorial campuses, making it the largest hospital in Central Massachusetts.

By rezoning Beaumont to match UMass Memorial’s current in-patient designation, the hospital would be able to have more medical beds at Beaumont.

The rezoning filing is the first step in the process of converting the space to allow medical-surgical beds. Approval from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health is also required before the property can be used as an inpatient, acute-care facility, according to the release.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Central Mass. has experienced a shortage of hospital beds. This rezoning effort would allow UMass Memorial to address this major healthcare need in the region.

“The additional inpatient beds will help ease pressure and strain on stretched-thin emergency room staff and resources at all of our hospitals by providing access to a level of care that can only be provided at an inpatient facility,” said Dr. Eric Dickson, president and CEO of UMass Memorial Health.