SEARCH

Worcester, Mass – UMass Memorial Health, the largest not-for-profit health care system in Central Massachusetts, has been recognized by the American Medical Association’s 2022 Joy in Medicine™ Health System Recognition Program for its Clinician Experience Office (CXO). Awarded at the Bronze level, UMass Memorial Health is among the 28 organizations across the nation that have been recognized this year for prioritizing and investing in physician well-being.

Residents and people who work in Grafton, Shrewsbury, West Boylston and Worcester are encouraged to participate in the 2023 Community Health Assessment. 

The assessment will be a tool for community members to know more about health concerns, resources and the priorities of the residents, students and workers in the region. It will ensure that resources will go toward the issues that are the most pressing. 

COVID numbers at UMass Memorial have dropped significantly – 29 COVID patients are currently in UMass Memorial hospitals, including four in the intensive care unit as of last Wednesday, according to state public health data.

UMass Memorial Medical Center’s Dr. John Broach is warning people to be careful when shoveling the wet, heavy snow from Tuesday’s storm off their driveways and sidewalks. Broach said people may not realize shoveling can be a strenuous exercise. He said dehydration and overexertion are two of the common things people typically suffer from.

There is widespread concern about what the pandemic is doing to the mental health of adolescents. In Worcester, a new school-based program aims to address the issue. UMass Memorial Health’s Community Healthlink C.A.R.E.S. Club (Create. Achieve. Respect. Elevate. Succeed) expanded to Worcester East Middle school. Community Healthlink will mentor students and provide counseling, along with academic help.

UMass Memorial Health – Community Healthlink is teaming up with the city’s Health and Human Services and public safety departments to design a program where mental health experts respond with officers to certain emergency calls. “Adding another layer of support and expertise to our crisis support is something that will really benefit our community,” Tamara Lundi, Community Healthlink president, said Friday.

UMass Memorial Health has also delivered approximately 8,000 courses of either Paxlovid or the monoclonal antibody therapy bebtelovimab since last July — almost 2,000 of which were delivered since April 10. It also hosts clinics for Evusheld for patients on Saturdays. Dr. Eric Dickson, CEO of UMass Memorial Health, said the health system has expanded the number of monoclonal antibody treatments it can deliver in a day, to 45 to 48 appointments. The center has been operating at maximum capacity for the last five weeks, as the latest surge began.

Dr. Eric Dickson, chief executive of UMass Memorial Health Care, said these factors make the timing of the latest COVID wave particularly tough. “As we started to see this uptick, we were really overwhelmed trying to catch up with a lot of work that had been put off for the last two years [and] dealing with staffing challenges,” he said. “We were starting from a position of weakness in health care, and then you're laying this on top of it.”

“For a radiologist who has been reading scans and always had IV contrast, to ask them to read without it, they will miss things,” said Dr. Eric Dickson, CEO of UMass Memorial Health. “It’s a horrible shortage. And it has significantly impacted operations. Ultimately we’ve had to do scans without contrast or withhold the scan.”