With COVID cases spiking, UMass Memorial & Medical School switch to emergency protocols

Photo | Grant Welker UMass Chan Medical School and UMass Memorial Medical Center share a campus off Belmont and Plantation streets in Worcester.

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By Grant Welker

UMass Memorial Health Care is shifting into an emergency operations plan because of a critically high number of patients, and UMass Medical School is expanding testing and travel protocols as coronavirus pandemic numbers continue to rise, leaders at both entities said Tuesday.

UMass Memorial's new operations plan includes expediting all patient discharges now that the hospital system is at what a staff announcement said was a critically high number of patients, including more than 90 who have or are suspected of having coronavirus. The protocol now includes virtual operations of its command center, and a review of operating room schedules to potentially reschedule some procedures to another time.

UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester had more than 100 patients with the virus or suspected of having it as of Tuesday. As for the health system's own employees, 534 have tested positive since the pandemic began, including 53 in the past week alone. The system has 123 employees who remain unable to work.

UMass Medical School leaders said Tuesday the school is expanding surveillance testing to three other locations where its doctors and students operate: the Memorial and Hahnemann campuses in Worcester and the Baystate campus in Springfield. More employees are being tested, including residents, fellows and so-called dual docs, those working on clinical and research degrees. The school and UMass Memorial Health Care are both requiring all staff to take a flu shot by Dec. 15.

The medical school is using what's known as an unobserved protocol, where those being tested pick up a kit and test themselves, which allows for a higher number of tests to be conducted. The school has conducted more than 40,000 tests this fall, with 36 coming back positive.

UMass Medical School is tightening its travel restrictions. Only one state remains safe to travel to: Hawaii, except it requires plane travel to get there, which the school doesn't consider safe. The school is requiring anyone who travels to another New England state or New York to obtain a coronavirus test up to 72 hours before returning to work. For those traveling outside that area or traveling by plane, the requirement is to be tested and quarantined for 14 days upon arrival back home.