Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | May 11, 2020 | wbjournal.com C E N T R A L M AS S I N B R I E F UMass Memorial has 1,000 backlogged procedures V E R BAT I M Staff layoffs "It is heartbreaking. I can't even think about it." Amy Lynn Chase, founder and owner of Crompton Collective, Haberdash, the White Room and the Canal District Farmers Market in Worcester, on having to lay off her staff for the first time, as efforts to stem the spread of coronavirus impacted her businesses Masked coordination "Although it was a lot of work these past few weeks to organize, package and distribute the 350,000 masks, Seven Hills Foundation was happy to be able to do it because we know so many of our fellow organizations desperately needed these masks to protect their staff." Kathleen Jordan, CEO of Worcester nonprofit Seven Hills Foundation, on coordinating with 126 organizations to buy from China face masks for workers Five years and still going "When we started Petricore, I told the team we'd try and make it one year and then see how it goes from there. To reach five years, and still be going strong, growing, and remaining profitable – it's amazing." Ryan Canuel, CEO of Worcester video game startup Petricore, on the company's five-year anniversary, over which it has raised $2 million from investors U Mass Memorial Medical Center has a count of coronavirus patients of about 150, of which a third are in intensive care. e Worcester hospital is also leading operations at a field hospital at the DCU Center. But hospital leaders are already plan- ning ahead post-surge, with more than 1,000 procedures backed up through April as UMass Memorial postponed most elective appointments to free up space and personnel and keep patients safe. If the postponement needs to last through May, the backlog will hit around 3,000. Working through the backlog e hospital is planning a series of steps to cut down on that backlog, including adding two temporary oper- ating rooms at the Memorial Campus, extending hours at the Hahnemann Campus, and holding Saturday and eve- ning hours at the Memorial and Univer- sity campuses. Combined, those moves are estimated to allow for an extra 1,000 procedures over the course of a month, UMass Memorial Medical Center's chief nursing officer and incident commander for coronavirus reponse, Justin Precourt, said in an online forum with staff. UMass Memorial is planning to keep cautionary steps in place even while eventually returning to somewhat nor- mal operations, Precourt said. A coronavirus testing tent is planned to remain in place, visitors will still largely be prohibited, and patients will be allowed through a single point of entry only and be screened for coro- navirus symptoms. Monitoring of staff symptoms will remain in place. Pandemic fight UMass Memorial's leadership remains focused on present pandemic needs, too. Its Psychiatry Treatment and Recov- ery Center, a 26-bed acute psychiatric unit on Queen Street in Worcester, has been made into what UMass Memorial President Dr. Michael Gustafson said is, to his knowledge, the first psychiatric facility in the state to be converted to negative pressure. Doing so keeps the air in the room of an infected patient from circulating elsewhere and potentially contaminating others. In the meantime, the hospital's lead- ership says it expects to have enough personal protective equipment for staff to last through the surge, as well as enough devices such as respirators to not have to resort to choosing which patients to prioritize to receive critical care. Some hospitals, Chief Medical Officer Andrew Karson said, have re- sorted to making protective gowns out of ponchos. "ankfully, we don't need to envi- sion going that route," he said. W BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor UMass Memorial Health Care's Memorial campus in Worcester

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