Worcester's DCU Center Will Be Site Of Field Hospital: Baker

WORCESTER, MA — A field hospital will soon open at the DCU Center in downtown Worcester, one of three such facilities the state is opening to expand medical capacity during the coronavirus outbreak.

The DCU Center will have 250 beds, and construction could begin on the field hospital as soon as Wednesday, Gov. Charlie Baker said on Tuesday. The DCU hospital will house the least sick people who still need hospital care, health officials said.

Tuesday's announcement makes official what Worcester leaders have been talking about for the past week. Worcester City Manager Ed Augustus said last week the DCU Center could hold up to 200 people in case hospitals in the city get too crowded.

Augustus said Tuesday afternoon that UMass will provide all the medical care at the facility, and the city will oversee logistics.

UMass Memorial Health Care CEO Eric Dickson said that local medical providers realized several weeks ago that the Worcester area lacked the number of beds needed to adequately address a coronavirus surge on top of regular patient needs. That could be a potentially deadly situation, Dickson said.

"[Coronavirus] overwhelms healthcare systems such that you can't deliver the standard of care you deliver today," Dickson said. "When that happens, the mortality rate rises."

There were 455 COVID-19 cases in Worcester County as of Tuesday afternoon, and 115 of those were in Worcester residents. Baker has said Massachusetts could see a surge starting around April 7.

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