Health

UMass Medical expanding biological study facility A facility at UMass Medical School helping train hundreds of area scien- tists and analyzing thousands of cell samples is now expanding. The Cryo Electron Microscopy Core Facility in Worcester, which opened three years ago, is installing new high- powered microscope equipment to expand the research of academic scien- tists and pharmaceutical companies. The facility uses what's called cryo- EM, a technology allowing for detailed viewing of cells, viruses and proteins, with a potential to help design new drugs. A new microscope system allows researchers to study cells more in their own environment without damaging or extracting them, said Chen Xu, a UMass Medical School associate professor and the director of the cryo-EM facility. The type of research allowed at the UMass facility is the first of its kind in New England and one of only 30 or so in the country, Xu said. Health Care Br iefs M ost of the Central Massachusetts' hospitals received high grades for safety from the biannual rankings from national nonprofit Leapfrog Group's Hospital Safety Grade Report, however UMass Memorial Medical campuses fell back to a C grade. The Leapfrog Group scores more than 2,600 hospitals on a grade rank of patient safety based on publicly available data on prevention of medical errors, infections and other potential harms on patients. The hospitals throughout Central Massachusetts performed well, however both UMass Memorial campuses in Worcester fell back to a C rating and Natick's Leonard Morse Hospital fell to a C after two consecutive B ratings. Massachusetts was ranked 12th in the A Worcester startup aiming to help diabet- ics and a Cambridge firm creating devices for those with impaired mobility have joined Worcester Polytechnic Institute's PracticePoint incubator. PracticePoint, located in Gateway Park on Prescott Street in Worcester, already has some major industry names as members, including Boston Scientific, GE, and MITRE Corp., along with UMass Medical School. Now PracticePoint has two health startups join- ing to test and validate their products thanks to a grant from the Westborough-based Massachusetts eHealth Institute at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. An $85,000 grant for PracticePoint will allow Worcester's Stability Health and Cambridge's eMotionRx to use PracticePoint's I n n o v a t i o n Two health firms join WPI's PracticePoint facility Central Mass. hospitals receive high marks for safety nation for safe hospitals with 42.37% of the state's hospitals receiving an A in the fall report. This marked a decline from fourth place this spring when 48.28% of the state's hospitals received an A. How Central Massachusetts hospitals fared: Heywood Hospital, Gardner: B. This is marks the hospitals first B following three straight A ratings. MetroWest Medical Center, Framingham: B. The hospital got an A last spring after a B the previous fall, following four straight C's. Milford Regional Medical Center: A. The hospital earned its third straight A after getting a C in the spring of 2018 following A's in 2017. Saint Vincent Hospital, Worcester: A. It's the second straight A for the hospital, which scored a B last fall but previously seven straight A's. UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital Clinton campus: A. The hospital hadn't been rated in previous reports. Leonard Morse Hospital, Natick: C. The hospital previously had two straight B's, with a previous mix of A,B and C scores. Harrington Hospital, Southbridge: A. The hospital most recently received two B's and previously four A's. Marlborough Hospital: A. The hospital bounced back after two consecutive C ratings. UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital Leominster campus: B. The hospital climbed back up after receiving five consecutive C ratings. UMass Memorial Medical Center - Memorial Campus, Worcester: C. The hospital got a C in the spring but a B rating in the previous two reports, following C's in five of the previous six cycles. UMass Memorial Medical Center - University Campus, Worcester: C. It's the third straight C, and eighth in the last nine ratings. Chen Xu, director of UMass Medical School's cryo-EM facility PHOTO/TMS AERIAL SOLUTIONS H Harrington Hospital in Southbridge equipment and staff expertise. Stability Health, based at 120 Front St., has creat- ed a technology-based care management system for diabetics. EMotionRX designs and builds devices to help people strengthen their muscles, improve their posture, and assist their legs when walking. Both startups join what the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, or MassTech, calls the first facility in the state's Digital Health Sandbox Network. Gov. Charlie Baker in April announced a two-year, $500,000 grant for PracticePoint and other sandboxes to be added later. MassTech in November announced three more research and development facilities to join the net- work: Brigham Digital Innovation Hub in Boston, MIT's Institute for Medical Engineering and Science in Cambridge, and TechSpring at Baystate Health in Springfield. PracticePoint was created with a $5-million capital grant from MassTech, a $2.5-million capi- tal and equipment grant from GE Life Sciences and a $9.5-million commitment from WPI for facility, faculty, staff and operational support. 4 HE ALTH • Winter 2019 H

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