Tent set up outside Carney Hospital in Dorchester for coronavirus testing

BOSTON — Medical workers at Carney Hospital in Dorchester are working to make sure they will be safe as their hospital becomes a central location for treating COVID-19 patients who are hospitalized.

Outside by the emergency room, there is a tent set up to help with people who are trying to be tested. But inside the hospital, they are cordoning off an area for people who have the virus and need care.

One section of Carney Hospital is being converted into a “dedicated care center” for one hospital group’s COVID-19 patients.

“All of the unit is under negative pressure so the disease/virus that causes COVID-19 can not be transmitted from the unit itself to other units of the hospital,” said Dr. Joseph Weinstein, chief medical officer for Steward Healthcare System.

We’re told the negative pressure guarantees the air won’t circulate with the rest of the building. The hospital is setting up rooms for 11 patients who have COVID19 but it says it could expand to treat more.

“They are not going to go through the ER, they are going to come in by ambulance when they are transferred from other facilities and we have a designated pathway within the hospital for that,” Weinstein said.

The Massachusetts Nurses Association met with Carney Tuesday to make sure only certain employees are being assigned, for example, persons under 60 and not pregnant. The nurses advocacy group also wants more details on how personal sick time is used if medical staff needs to be quarantined, exactly where expansion locations would be and whether the hospital would help with daycare expenses if longer work shifts are needed. The hospital told us they are providing ample safety gear.

“They will be wearing gowns and masks, face shields and gloves and we’ll also make sure they are getting the appropriate supportive treatment," Weinstein said.

The hospital group says Carney will only treat their hospital group’s COVID-19 patients. Right now they have one in all of their 10 hospitals across the state.

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