UMass Memorial Health

UMass Memorial Health in Worcester said on Thursday it has no available intensive care unit beds throughout its entire system due to increased patient volume and staffing shortages, said UMass Memorial spokesman Anthony Berry.

UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester has seen an increase in COVID-positive patients from 35 to 54 cases in less than one week, forcing the hospital to go on an elevated alert status, according to a Tuesday press release.

Holes in health insurance coverage are causing major disparities, as well as a growing burden on Central Massachusetts healthcare providers.

A new Medicare health plan dubbed Mass Advantage and owned by UMass Memorial Health Ventures, Inc., Shields Managed Care Solutions, LLC, and WCAS CM Holdings LLC will become available to Worcester County residents in the coming months.

UMass Memorial Health on Monday announced the acquisition of the former Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center at 378 Plantation St. in Worcester, which cost $23.5 million, according to the Worcester County Registry of Deeds.

The new program at UMass Memorial Health offers hospital-level care to patients in their own homes, using virtual monitoring systems and at-home visits from healthcare professionals.

A quarter of Worcester County residents age 12 and up still haven’t gotten a first shot of COVID-19 vaccine. And, since the virus spreads much more easily among those who are unvaccinated, that group is helping to fuel the resurgence of cases coming with the Delta variant of the disease.

Burnout is nothing new in the healthcare field, but a mental health crisis among healthcare workers may be leading to startling staffing shortages as a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic threatens to overburden hospitals again.

Worcester healthcare provider UMass Memorial Health announced a plan on Wednesday to provide booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to all individuals eight months after they received their second vaccine.

UMass Memorial Health on Tuesday announced the launch of its new telehealth program, Hospital at Home, which allows patients to stay at home while receiving hospital-level services.