The COVID pandemic, in the words of Mercy & Baystate’s then leaders, provided an opportunity to collaborate and share resources. As the shroud of the coronavirus began to lift, they took turns appearing at the weekly pressers. One did not quite represent the other at each tradeoff. Little would anybody know then that their successors—or perhaps successor—could conceivably be in a position to do so.
Nearly three weeks after Attorney General Maura Healey formally became governor-elect of the commonwealth, some meat on the bones of her budding administration are coming into view. Some of their choices for policy committees signal some commitment to a key promise.
Springfield instituted an indoor mask mandate Thursday, effective September 13, amid high case rates and hospitalizations.
SPRINGFIELD—Ranking at or near the bottom by various wealth metrics, the City of Homes looked like a sitting duck as the pandemic crashed upon the United States. In the weeks after the City Council’s March 16 meeting, its last in-person since then, Massachusetts and Connecticut
SPRINGFIELD—At the start of last week, the mass vaccination site here was a mess. Confusion and a breakdown in communications led to a dangerous situation. Elderly vaccine-seekers were waiting in the cold outside the husk of the former Macy’s. As complaints about the vaccine rollout
SPRINGFIELD—As the hoped-for vaccines to guard against COVID-19 appear on the horizon, officials here are preparing for their role in distribution. Supplies will be extremely limited in December if, as expected, the Food and Drug Administration authorizes emergency use. Hospitals like Mercy and Baystate Health
SPRINGFIELD—Last week, it looked as though coronavirus cases in the City of Homes were cooling after the city into surged into the state’s red designation. Numbers from the weekend crushed those hopes. Mirroring recent case records the state reported, Springfield residents tested positive higher than
SPRINGFIELD—Speaking at the weekly COVID-19 briefing here, Baystate Health Systems President & CEO Dr. Mark Keroack announced that an outbreak of the novel coronavirus hit a non-COVID ward at the health network’s flagship hospital. Keroack told reporters that 13 patients and 23 staff had been
UPDATED 4:50PM: To include comments from Mayor Ludwick of Enfield. ENFIELD—In the retail flats of this Constitution State border town, life has begun to come back. Two months after he closed stores and restaurants to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, Connecticut Governor Ned
SPRINGFIELD—With flickers of hope that the worst of the COVID-19 outbreak may be passing here and throughout Western Massachusetts, local officials and hospital administrators laid out some changes due in the coming weeks. First among these is implementing Governor Charlie Baker’s mandate for residents to