As we update our brand name to UMass Memorial Health and launch a new brand campaign, it’s time to tell the world who we are, what we do and what we stand for as a health care system. Our relentless caregivers are the inspiration for the update of our new brand name and campaign. Find out more about these caregivers and how it takes everyone, every day working together relentlessly to care for our patients and each other. This week, we interviewed Dental Program Coordinator Stacy Hampson, RDH, who stepped up to join our COVID-19 screening and vaccination efforts.

Dental Program Coordinator Stacy Hampson, RDH, loves children as much as she enjoys being a dental hygienist. So visiting Worcester schools and neighborhoods with the UMass Memorial Ronald McDonald Care Mobile team has been an ideal job for her. 

Then COVID-19 changed the way we do everything. In March 2020, the mobile dental program was put on hold. And Stacy was asked to step out of her comfort zone to work as a screener at UMass Memorial Medical Center – University Campus. “It was scary, because COVID had just happened, people were staying home and everything was shutting down,” Stacy recalled. “I was asked to work on the front lines, which I never in my wildest dreams expected to do.” 

But like all UMass Memorial Health relentless caregivers, Stacy rose to the challenge –  greeting patients and visitors as they entered the hospital, taking their temperatures, and asking key questions about symptoms and exposure. The job was physically and emotionally demanding. “But it was also rewarding,” Stacy said. “Like when I’d walk into work and see people outside holding up signs and cheering for us.”    

In August 2020, Stacy became a coordinator for the state-run Stop the Spread program, bringing free COVID-19 testing to Worcester’s neighborhoods. “My department was asked to take this on and we couldn’t say no,” Stacy said. That fall, when the cold weather hit, the program moved inside to the Mercantile Center in downtown Worcester. Stacy has been there ever since. She also works with the Worcester COVID-19 Vaccine Equity Initiative, bringing vaccination clinics to hard-to-reach populations through churches, senior housing and community centers, as well as employers. 

“The dental program was suspended when the pandemic hit and our team shifted to COVID screening and testing, but Stacy didn’t skip a beat,” said Michelle Muller, FNP, Care Mobile Manager. “She brought her infectious, can-do attitude to work each day to make it happen. And during this difficult time, she put our patients’ needs first, always ready to answer questions and share a kind word. I can’t imagine doing this without her!” 

When the mobile dental program resumed in December 2021, Stacy was eager to get back to the schools and care for her young patients, if only for a few days a week. “It will be some kind of normalcy, again,” she hoped, noting she’s still part of our COVID-19 prevention efforts. A Rhode Island native, Stacy recently built an in-laws’ apartment at her home so her parents could move in with her during the pandemic. When she’s not working, Stacy enjoys spending time with her close-knit family (her brother and family live down the road) and hiking with her dog.

What does relentless mean to her? “We haven’t given up,” Stacy said. “We’re still here. We’re still standing strong. We made a commitment to be in it until the end.”