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HOPKINTON, Mass. - Hopkinton High School is the first school in Massachusetts to get state approval to drop the in-school mask mandate and a local pediatrician is weighing in on the decision.

In order to meet the state's threshold for removing masks, at least 80% of all students and staff at the school have to be vaccinated.

HFMA President and CEO Joe Fifer interviews Sergio Melgar, CFO at UMass Memorial Health, about his history with health systems in peril and what he thinks could come out of pandemic-era changes.

WORCESTER - UMass Memorial Health President and CEO Dr. Eric Dickson said that, while things are “still very tight” regarding bed availability in Central Massachusetts, the mask mandate appears to be working, with COVID test rates roughly halved in recent weeks.

WORCESTER, Mass.  - Healthcare providers are putting out the reminder for people to get their flu shots.

With strict COVID-19 restrictions such as mask wearing and social distancing in place last year the amount of flu last season was less than normal. Doctors are concerned with the easing of these restrictions, flu and other respiratory illnesses will return to pre-pandemic levels.

BOSTON — The pandemic has created a lot of stress. Often a simple way to find relief is a glass of wine or a beer.

Surveys show drinking is up significantly, particularly among women.

WORCESTER, Mass. - After another emergency advisory from the CDC, local medical leaders are calling on pregnant women to get vaccinated against COVID-19. 

The message advises pregnant women to protect not only themselves, but their baby from the harmful virus. 

Massachusetts hospitals are bracing to lose hundreds of employees as deadlines for employees to get a Covid vaccine mandates approach. 

While vaccination rates at Massachusetts hospitals are high, thousands of workers have yet to meet the criteria ahead of deadlines, which range from Oct. 1 at some hospitals to Nov. 1 at others. Those who haven't confirmed they are vaccinated could face termination.

WORCESTER — The head of the largest healthcare system in Central Massachusetts says the hospital bed shortage and staffing crisis at UMass Memorial Healthcare have reached a tipping point.

As 25 Investigates’ Kerry Kavanaugh learned, plans are in the works to add more beds at the Worcester hospital, but requiring workers to get the COVID vaccine as a condition for employment could translate into fewer staff to care for patients.

On Thursday’s Boston Public Radio, Dr. Eric Dickson described the current situation at UMass Memorial Health as “the perfect storm,” after its hospital system ran out of ICU beds on Wednesday — 18 months after the COVID-19 pandemic officially began.

Dickson is the President and CEO of UMass Memorial Health, which has hospitals in Worcester, Southbridge, Marlborough and Leominster.