December 4, 2020
Worcester field hospital ready to accept coronavirus patients Sunday
Photo | Grant Welker
The DCU Center field hospital in Worcester
Photo | Grant Welker
Workstations on wheels, a mainstay of hospital units, are also used at the DCU Center coronavirus field hospital.
Photo | Grant Welker
The DCU Center field hospital in Worcester has more than 200 beds for coronavirus patients.
By Grant Welker
The DCU Center is once again ready to take the region's coronavirus patients during the second surge of the pandemic.
The Worcester convention center will have 215 beds for less-severe coronavirus patients, and it'll open as the city and Worcester County are seeing the highest virus case levels yet. The field hospital is expected to open to 25 initial patients on Sunday.
UMass Memorial Health Care employees worked with the National Guard and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency over the past two weeks to get the field hospital ready for a second time. The facility opened the first time in early April as cases were spiking for the first time.
"It's not faster, but it's definitely easier this time because we were making up as we went last time," said Dr. John Broach, the director of UMass Memorial's division of emergency medical services and disaster management.
In addition to the more than 200 bed spaces, the field hospital is set up with 18 monitors to help staff keep an eye on patients from a central location, as well as areas for X-rays, echocardiograms and ultrasounds, said Peter Lancette, the director of UMass Memorial's heart and vascular interventional labs, who gave a tour of the space Friday. Copper piping installed specially for the field hospital brings in oxygen, and the piping was made wider than in the spring to help with capacity. New features have also been set up for patients comfort, including a TV, exercise bikes and yoga mats. Because all the patients will be positive for coronavirus, they don't need to be kept apart from one another.
"It's relatively easy to set up the pipe and drape, and to put beds in it, but it's harder to get all the IT infrastructure and all those other things in place," Broach said. "We have the experience now, and it's made it a lot easier, but it's certainly still a lot of work."
The most difficult part, Broach said, will be staffing. Most will be from UMass Memorial, with others from staffing agencies, he said. The hospital system is soliciting interest from care providers at www.umassmemorialresponds.com.
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