WORCESTER, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The first of several field hospitals designed to treat COVID-19 patients opened Thursday morning at the DCU Center in Worcester.
The goal of the facility is to relieve stress off other hospitals in the area.
“We’ve done everything from piping in oxygen to running electricity. All the clinical engineering and medical equipment that we need to take care of people just as if they were in the hospital,” Dr. John Broach, medical director of the DCU field hospital, said.
Gov. Charlie Baker speaking at the DCU Center earlier this month. (Kevin Coleman/WBZ NewsRadio)
Dr. Broach said the facility is designed to treat low-acuity COVID-19 patients who don’t need intensive care. But, if someone’s condition takes a turn for the worse, Dr. Broach said they are ready.
“We have paramedics, flight physicians, and nurses on site to be able to help manage the situation,” Dr. Broach said. “Just across the street is St. Vincent Hospital, and the UMass campuses are just a mile or so up the road. So, we have a lot of capability to stabilize folks and move them out quickly.”
Any patients would be transferred once they’ve “been admitted or seen another emergency department. We make sure that the patients are stable, and that they’re appropriate to come here, then we would transfer them in,” Dr. Broach said.
Dr. Broach said he hopes they won’t need all 250 beds available, but thinks they probably will need many of them.
WBZ NewsRadio's Madison Rogers (@_madisonrogers) reports
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