Health

UMass Medical School furloughs 100 employees UMass Medical School in Worcester furloughed about 100 employees for possibly up to six months as the coro- navirus was raging through Central Massachusetts in April. The furloughs will not exceed six months and medical insurance bene- fits for furloughed employees will be maintained for the duration of their furlough. The school has about 6,000 employ- ees and faculty members, according to a survey it sent to WBJ's Research Department in 2019. The school is taking strict austerity measures intended to limit spending in the face of the pandemic. The measures include instituting a hiring freeze and requiring employees to use accrued vacation time for hours they are unable to work. Seven Hills calls for higher worker salaries Human services workers who've received higher wages during the coro- navirus pandemic deserve such better benefits permanently, the Worcester- based Seven Hills Foundation & Affiliates is advocating. Seven Hills and its affiliates said they're calling upon Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo to make perma- nent the enhanced funding for human services direct support professionals implemented during the pandemic and is slated to end later this month. Seven Hills, which through its affili- Health Care Br iefs A few hundred UMass Memorial Medical Center staff, including the hospital system's CEO, stood for 10 minutes outside the Worcester hospital on June 5 in support of racial equality at a time when Black Lives Matter protests are being held around the world in response to the police killing of Minneapolis black man George Floyd. The protest took place with everyone spaced apart in an illustration bridging two crises: racial unrest and an ongoing coronavirus pandemic that's still forcing people to stand physically apart. Despite emotion shown by many participants afterward, there were no hugs and no handshakes. Most wore white lab coats and M arlborough pharmaceutical firm Sunovion said May 21 it has received federal approval for the first drug for Parkinson's disease which dissolves under the tongue. The sublingual drug, called KYNMOBI, is used to treat what's known as OFF episodes for Parkinson's patients, when they experience symptoms like tremor or difficulty walking. Sunovion, which got U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, said the regulatory sign-off will give Parkinson's patients a new way of administering a drug to treat episodes. The drug is a film dissolving under the tongue, allowing patients to treat episodes as they occur. More than 17,000 Massachusetts residents have Parkinson's, according to Sunovion, and nearly 1 million nationwide, according to the Parkinson's Foundation. Within four to six years of a Parkinson's diagnosis, 40% to 60% of patients experience OFF episodes, Sunovion said. In trials, Sunovion said it found those treated with KYNMOBI experienced significant improvements in motor symptoms within 30 minutes. I n n o v a t i o n Sunovion wins FDA approval for new Parkinson's drug UMass Memorial staff, CEO hold Black Lives Matter rally nearly all wore masks. Some held signs reading "Black Lives Matter" and "White Coats for Black Lives." A few kneeled during a moment of silence spanning 10 minutes, slightly longer than the eight minutes and 46 seconds that a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on the neck of Floyd, whose death on May 25 has kicked off protests worldwide. Dr. Meme Tran, the daughter of a Vietnamese refugee who grew up in Worcester, organized the protest in an effort that started only on June 3. A friend posted to Facebook about similar rallies in health care taking place June 5, and she quickly reached out to administrators, police and others to get a gathering together. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh, we have to do this. There's no way we can't,'" she said. "It was an amazing turnout." Tran, using a bullhorn, advocated for donations to Black Lives Matter organizations, running for office to help end racism, or to vote for candidates to campaign on platforms to end racism. "In the past few months," she said, "we have organized and mobilized an aggressive response against a huge public health crisis: COVID-19. Let's use the lessons we learned to organize and mobilize our campaign against the public health crisis of racism." Tran, who works in emergency medicine, lauded the hospital system and medical school for fighting against racism, particularly to UMass Memorial Health Care President and CEO Dr. Eric Dickson, who she said has been outspoken about reinforcing UMass Memorial will work to ensure equity among workers and patients. Tran was joined by UMass Medical School Chancellor Dr. Michael Collins, Dr. Terence Flotte, the dean of the School of Medicine, and Clanford Pierce, the UMass Medical School police chief and director of public safety. Each approached Tran afterward to offer support. Dr. Michael Gustafson, the president of UMass Memorial Medical Center, also attended. "You are so cool. Great job," Dickson said. "It's a disease, and we have to fight it the same way," Dickson said of racism. "We haven't cured COVID, and we haven't cured this." "Anything you need, Meme," Pierce said, stopping by a minute later. UMass Memorial Health Care held racial injustice pro- tests at its University and Memorial campuses in Worcester. B r i e f s H Sunovion headquarters in Marlborough Sunovion CEO Antony Loebel 4 HE ALTH • Summer 2020 H

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