Robert Bauer, who was injured in a small plane crash in Stow, MA, reunited with Flight Nurse Andrea Knox, on the day he was being released from UMass Memorial Medical Center.
WORCESTER, Mass. - Through much of December and into January, a surge in COVID-19 cases overwhelmed Massachusetts. Since then, many are questioning the need for a fourth booster shot.
Dr. Robert Klugman, Medical Director of Employee Health Services at UMass Memorial Medical Center, said at this point there is no clear evidence of a fourth shot is beneficial.
The new clinic will include exam spaces, as well as providers across a variety of specialties, including endocrinology, diabetes, cardiology, neurosurgery, spine/anesthesia, rheumatology, oncology, infectious disease, and thoracic surgery. It will become the home of the newly expanded Diabetes Center of Excellence.
WORCESTER — Lines for COVID-19 testing at the Mercantile Center have shrunk considerably from the hours-long waits that residents dealt with at the beginning of the month.
UMass Memorial Health, which operates the testing site, has recorded a week-over-week decrease in people seeking PCR tests at the facility. According to numbers provided by the health system, 1,986 tests were conducted over three days at the Mercantile Center over three testing days, while 3,197 tests were conducted two weeks ago over three testing days.
Shlomit Schaal, MD, PhD, has been elected by the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology to its Board of Trustees. Her three-year term will begin April 1.
“I embrace this role and I am humbled. Serving on the board of trustees is a priceless opportunity to help shape the future of academic ophthalmology,” said Dr. Schaal, chair and professor of ophthalmology & visual sciences. “Teaching the next generation of physicians and scientists is my greatest privilege.”
As rates of antibiotic resistance grow alarmingly among disease-causing bacteria, dangerous fungi also are evolving stronger defenses, with a lot less fanfare.
Federal officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated mask guidance this week to suggest Americans choose N95 or KN95s if possible, as respirators better stem the spread of SARS-CoV-2 spread this winter.
Experts have previously confirmed that Omicron spreads at a faster, more effective rate compared to earlier virus variants, and respirators like the N95 provide those in public a boost in subsequent filtration abilities if worn correctly.
As the coronavirus sickens hundreds of health care workers across Massachusetts, some hospitals are in the dark about how many more National Guard members, if any, they should expect to receive in the coming days.
BOSTON (CBS) – Massachusetts hospital leaders issued a dire warning Friday that they’re “in crisis” and “every corner of our healthcare system is gasping for air.”
The Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, an organization of dozens of hospitals in the state, wrote a letter to the public saying “the stability of the system hangs in the balance” during this latest surge in the pandemic.
RANDOLPH, Mass. — The positivity rate at the Randolph Covid testing site has dropped since just after the holidays, but it’s still an astounding 30-40 percent on a day-to-day basis, said Liz LaRosee, one of the town coordinators.
“We’re taking every precaution,” LaRosee said. “I’ve got all of our volunteers wearing gloves and masks and every morning I say make sure you’re getting yourself a test just to make sure.”
WORCESTER - Over a dozen beds fill the room at the American Red Cross blood donation center on Plantation Street. During a 45-minute visit on Wednesday afternoon, only one of them was occupied.
“Donations are down over half nationwide,” Jeff Hall, a spokesperson for the American Red Cross of Massachusetts, said at the door. He explained that the organization likes to keep a 3-day supply of blood; he said the state currently has just over a 1-day supply.
WORCESTER, Mass. - There are currently 460 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Central Massachusetts, a number 20% higher than at any point during the first two coronavirus surges.
UMass Memorial Health president and CEO Dr. Eric Dickson says 60% of the hospitalized patients are unvaccinated. He said it's putting a tremendous strain on staff and making it harder to find space for patients.
Six in 10 Americans have a chronic disease, and 4 in 10 have received a diagnosis of 2 or more chronic diseases.1 Millions of Americans live with and manage cancer; diabetes; epilepsy; Alzheimer disease; heart, lung, and kidney disease; rheumatoid arthritis; and other conditions. Many participate in ongoing medication therapy, prescribed regimens, and regular medical support.
Twenty-six million. That's how many rapid at home tests will be flooding into the state over the next three months. Those tests, according to Gov. Charlie Baker, will be earmarked for K-12 education and childcare.
Baker also deployed 500 National Guard troops to hospitals across the state in a press conference Tuesday morning.
The American Red Cross has declared its first-ever national blood crisis in the U.S., warning the public about the worst shortage in over a decade.
The nonprofit said in a statement this week that U.S. blood centers in recent weeks have reported "less than a one-day’s supply of blood of certain critical blood types—a dangerously low level." It noted a decline in donor turnout since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to blood drive cancellations, staffing challenges and donor eligibility misinformation.
The evidence of the capacity crisis was everywhere — with patients in hallways and placed in any spare room. Dr. Eric Dickson, CEO and president of UMass Memorial Health, said one patient, a 90-year-old woman, was placed in a pediatric trauma room.
Virtually all COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts are now resulting from the omicron variant. It took over in hospitals in late December, according to an analysis from Cambridge Health Alliance. It’s still early in the omicron surge, but it’s coming on fast, so we asked several doctors and nurses what they are seeing with omicron, to get a sense of how patients are faring and how this surge compares to prior waves of COVID.
Starting Monday, Massachusetts hospitals will differentiate between patients they admit primarily for COVID-19 and those admitted to be treated for something else who end up testing positive.
The idea is to give the public a better understanding of how many people are in the hospital because of the virus. But while that data began to be collected Monday, it won't be released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health until January 17, officials said.
BOSTON (CBS) – As colleges and universities across the state prepare to welcome back their students to full in person learning, school officials are doing their part to make sure students are well informed and prepared about new COVID-19 protocols and requirements. “I’m kind of nervous because the cases are high recently, but I feel the school will do everything they can do,” Boston University student Cerelia Liu said.
WORCESTER — COVID-19 continues to wallop Central Massachusetts, with UMass Memorial Health President and CEO Dr. Eric Dickson reporting a 40% positivity rate Monday at testing sites, while hospitalizations that have surpassed previous pandemic highs.
“This is crunch time for us,” Dickson said in an interview Monday. “It’s just put an enormous, enormous strain on the hospital.”
Hospitals nationwide are once again buckling under the strain of COVID-19 cases as the ultratransmissible omicron wave crashes into health care systems that are already critically short-staffed and exhausted from previous waves of the pandemic.
Get directions to any of the UMass Memorial Medical Center campuses and view maps of parking areas for patients and visitors.
Exclusive Health Care Provider for the Worcester Red Sox.
© 2024 UMass Memorial Health
