UMass Memorial starting coronavirus screening Wednesday for referred patients

Photo | Grant Welker UMass Medical School in Worcester

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By Grant Welker

UMass Memorial Medical Center will start drive-through coronavirus screening in a special facility at its University Campus in Worcester on Wednesday, according to the medical director of the Worcester Division of Public Health.

Dr. Michael Hirsh, who is a pediatric surgeon at UMass Memorial, tweeted the news Tuesday afternoon.

The new capability will allow UMass Memorial to test a greater number of potential coronavirus patients at a time when Gov. Charlie Baker and others have pushed for more testing to be done quickly. Worcester County had eight confirmed coronavirus cases as of Tuesday afternoon, and the state has 218, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

UMass Memorial is working to set up a similar testing station at Marlborough Hospital, according to a memo to hospital staff. The testing is in a secure area that will limit potential exposure to others.

Both mobile testing centers will be set aside for patients who have been evaluated by a health provider and referred for testing after meeting criteria, which includes showing symptoms and the following: having close contact with a symptomatic coronavirus case; a travel history in the prior 14 days to the federal government's so-called Level 3 countries, which includes much of Europe, for non-essential travel; a dialysis patient referred from a dialysis center; and those with need for priority testing due to a clinical situation, such as police or emergency responders.

"There are still limitations on our ability to provide testing for COVID-19," UMass Memorial President and CEO Eric Dickson said in the memo.

"We are hoping to provide more testing in the future, but currently have to reserve these tests for patients who are sick enough to be hospitalized, have high-risk of having coronavirus based on travel history or exposure to another individual known to have coronavirus, are healthcare workers, or patients who are on dialysis," he said.

Dickson said the hospital is creating a centralized call center staffed by clinicians to screen patients suspected of having coronavirus for outpatient clinics and UMass Memorial's Community Medical Group sites.

The hospital also added new capabilities within its electronic health records system starting Tuesday allowing providers to message an infection control provider regarding clinical questions. These messages can be attached to patient names, giving the on-call provider the capability to access that patient's medical record to help provide recommendations.

Hospitals are also enacting stricter patient visit standards.

Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham and Natick, and Milford Regional Medical Center have banned all visitors except for limited cases such as end-of-life care and a birthing partner on maternity units.