WORCESTER, Mass. — With COVID-19 cases rising in the Commonwealth, UMass Memorial Health Care in Worcester recently changed its visitation policy to protect patients.
Now, no visitors are allowed at UMass Memorial’s University Campus Emergency Department.
“One of the most difficult and challenging pieces of all of this has been that separation of patient and family. Really, we view the patient’s family as a continuum of the care team,” said chief nursing officer Justin Precourt. “We really have worked diligently to put safeguards in place so we haven’t had to restrict all visitation.”
The emergency department at Worcester’s only Level 1 Trauma Center typically serves a range of 25 to 75 patients, Precourt told Boston 25 News.
A patient who is not in the University Campus Emergency Department is still allowed one visitor per day between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. That visitor is screened upon arrival and can then come and go throughout visitation hours.
“There’s been a lot of challenges throughout this entire pandemic,” Precourt said. “Coming up with solutions to keep the patient and the family connected has been one of our greatest challenges and one we’ve put the most effort into.”
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