Health

6 HE ALTH • Summer 2020 Continued from Page 5 DON'T PUT YOUR HEALTH ON HOLD. Reach out today, call 855-UMASS-MD or visit umassmemorial.org/appointment As we resume our services, we understand that you may have concerns about coming to our locations, but when waiting can mean much worse, trust that you are safe at UMass Memorial. Led by the CDC and our own COVID task force, we've implemented the following changes: + Virtual visit options + Universal masking + Screenings upon arrival + Hand sanitizer stations + Social distancing + Stringent cleaning practices + Increased touch-free processes Health Care Br iefs tracking federal business subsidies and tax incentives. All 26 Central Massachusetts healthcare grants were received in early to mid-May. MetroWest Medical Center received nearly $19 million for its Framingham Union Hospital campus and another nearly $5 million for its Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick. Among other acute- care hospitals in Central Massachusetts, Milford Regional Medical Center and Clinton Hospital each received roughly $4 million. Those hospitals are recipients of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grants totaling more than $1.2 billion across Massachusetts. The fed- eral CARES Act has dedicated $175 bil- lion to hospitals and other healthcare centers, with most of that funding split based on a facility's typical patient rev- enue, its area's impact by the outbreak, and factors such as serving low-income and uninsured patients. More than $63 billion has been disbursed through Tuesday, according to COVID Stimulus Watch, which collated its data through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting system. Other area healthcare providers have received funding, too. Brigham And Women's Physicians Organization, for example, got $8 million for operations in Milford, where it runs a cancer care center at Milford Regional Medical Center with Dana Farber. McLean Hospital, a behavioral health hospital based in Belmont, received more than $3 million for a treatment center it runs in Petersham. A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found pandemic-related grants have tended to disproportionate- ly benefit hospitals with the highest share of patients who pay with private insurance. Private payers generally reimburse hospitals at far higher rates than do Medicaid and Medicare. Many Central Massachusetts hospi- tals treat mostly Medicaid and Medicare patients though, according to the Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis. At least 60% of patients fall into that category at nine area hospitals. Athol Hospital is among the highest in the state, with 73% of patients paying with a public coverage program. More than 50 Saint Vincent nurses furloughed More than 50 nurses at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester took in April what the hospital says are voluntary furloughs. Saint Vincent has also redeployed nurses to allow the hospital to direct resources to where they're most needed during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a statement by CEO Carolyn Jackson. "It is of critical importance that the nurses and other employees who typically work in the units impacted by the executive orders are either redeployed to help provide COVID care or to do other necessary work in the hospital; otherwise in this crisis, no person should be in the hospital using valuable PPE unless they need to be," Jackson said in a statement, referring to personal protective equipment. "I want to recognize those nurses who typically work in these areas and have requested to participate in our furlough program, which has been only voluntary for nurses – not mandatory," she said. Saint Vincent has been criticized by the Massachusetts Nurses Association for what the union says are Saint Vincent Hospital CEO Carolyn Jackson

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