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Since November, hospitals have understaffing, an escalation of behavioral health cases, and a worsening of a variety of diseases from over a year of delayed care. Now the surge in Covid-19 cases is spurring some hospitals to refuse to patients from other systems, close outpatient units and prepare “crisis standards of care.”

Amid surging COVID-19 infections, overflowing hospitals, and exhausted healthcare workers, Massachusetts hospital leaders are hanging on a glimmer of hope: some treatments, vaccines, and hard-won knowledge from the earlier outbreaks have meant fewer severely ill COVID patients.

And those who do need intensive care generally are recovering more quickly, doctors say.

On Tuesday, UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester instituted new visitor policies in response to rising COVID case numbers and the Omicron variant.

According to the new visitor policy, adult patients will only be allowed one designated visitor. This visitor must be the same individual throughout the course of the patient’s hospitalization, meaning other visitors for the same patient will not be permitted. The previous policy had allowed two visitors per patient. 

The Massachusetts Medical Society is pushing for a statewide mask mandate for indoor public spaces, with COVID-19 cases rising and straining hospitals, as several cities and towns have already reinstituted mandates in their communities.

A growing surge of COVID-19 patients is stressing already packed hospitals and causing more cancellations of elective procedures.

"We have a severe bed shortage crisis," said UMass Memorial Health President Eric Dickson. "The patients are backing up into the emergency department that need to be admitted into the hospital."

WORCESTER, Mass. — Police departments across central Massachusetts handed out gift cards in exchange for guns on Saturday as part of UMass Memorial Health's annual "Goods for Guns" buyback program. 

Participants received gift cards ranging in value from $25 to $75, depending on the type of guns they handed in.

REGION – The Corridor 9/495 Regional Chamber of Commerce announced the winners of its year-end awards earlier this month, recognizing businesses and individual contributors to the area business community.

WORCESTER, Mass. - Students and artists are making garden tools and sculptures from destroyed guns. 

“It's their way of showing that these weapons can be transformed into something beautiful," John Hayden, founder of Guns 2 Gardens Massachusetts, said.

Worcester and eight other police departments will be conducting a gun buyback program Saturday as part of a collaborative initiative to try to reduce the number of firearms in the community.

People can drop off firearms, unloaded and wrapped up or in a bag, and collect a gift card for groceries without having to provide identification or weapon information.