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Picture this: You're critically ill, perhaps dying, and your nearby hospital doesn't have any open beds in its intensive care unit.

You're taken to the sky in a medical helicopter, as paramedics and dispatchers search for an available ICU bed on the ground – in a health care system stressed by staffing shortages and hammered by COVID-19.

Dr. Robert Klugman, medical director of employee health at UMass Memorial Health in Worcester, on the vaccine mandate for their employees (1:02:19)

In her victory speech after cruising to a landslide win in the Boston mayor’s race, Michelle Wu spoke of the urgency of “bold” change to “meet the moment” the city is facing, a theme she sounded throughout her campaign. But she also talked about the importance of basic city services, saying her administration can pay attention to both. 

Capacity challenges and workforce issues have created unprecedented strain on the state's hospitals.

Legislators are preparing a bill that would make it harder for large health systems to expand to the suburbs, a proposal that several hospital leaders applauded as a promising first step to shoring up the state’s most vulnerable institutions.

The state’s largest health systems are terminating hundreds of health care workers for failing to meet vaccine mandate deadlines. 

Though kids ages 5 to 11 are starting to get vaccinated against COVID-19, one Central Massachusetts physician said a big drop-off in case counts isn’t expected.

Demand for monoclonal antibodies to treat coronavirus has surged at Massachusetts hospitals in recent months as awareness about the once-little-known drug and its incredible effects is increasing, bringing patients in from a dozen different states.

WORCESTER – Kevin Moore was skeptical.  

He wasn’t sure he should get an infusion of monoclonal antibodies to fight off early symptoms from his COVID-19 infection.