BOSTON — The number of people infected with COVID-19 continues to rise with 821 testing positive Tuesday across Massachusetts. Hospitals have been planning for months to deal with what may be a second wave.
“It’s been a slow rise, not anything like where it has been in March with the first wave,” said Dr. Paul Biddinger, part of the Division of Emergency Preparedness at the Mass. General Hospital Center for Disaster Medicine.
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Planning has been underway for months at MGH.
“We’ve purchased more equipment, more ventilators, more dialysis machines, others, and we’ve been changing some of our care spaces to wire in that new equipment,” Dr. Biddinger said.
In Worcester, UMass Memorial Medical Center continues to stockpile personal protective equipment.
“We’ve been very aggressive since wave [one], we actually haven’t let off in terms of procuring,” said Kimi Kobayashi, the chief quality officer at UMass Memorial.
Kobayashi said if cases continue to rise, the hospital will shuffle staffing and consider use of hospital space for other uses; but the case counts are not at that point.
“In another week, I might be saying, of course, we’re there,” Kobayashi explained.
In Concord, Emerson Hospital has few patients with COVID-19 according to Dr. Barry Kitch, the chief medical officer. He said the community hospital is well-prepared for a second surge.
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“We have the staff, PPE, equipment, including ventilators, medications, and resources to care safely for all patients with COVID-19, while continuing to provide the necessary preventive care, screenings, procedures and surgeries that should not be delayed,” Dr. Kitch added.
State data shows just one hospital at surge capacity in Massachusetts, with most cases present at Boston Medical Center, 57, and Mass General Hospital, 31.
Boston University professor John Sullivan is a healthcare policy expert and said the uptick we’re seeing in the commonwealth is on each of us.
“I think what’s going to happen is that people are getting complacent, even in Massachusetts,” Sullivan said.
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