Springfield, Mass.-based Baystate Medical Center is battling a COVID-19 outbreak involving 16 employees and four patients, the hospital confirmed in a statement shared with Becker's Nov. 18.
Mark Keroack, MD, Baystate Health president and CEO, said the hospital is conducting contact tracing and testing for employees from the affected unit, and it is also notifying patients who received care on the unit Nov. 6-16 to provide testing.
The medical center's infection control team is investigating the source of the infections while coordinating with local and state public health officials.
"The prevalence of virus in our communities is high, and we continue to be on our guard to prevent transmission in our clinical environments and recognize the importance of continued vigilance and commitment to each other's health and safety," said Dr. Keroack.
The latest COVID-19 outbreak at the medical center is the largest since July, according to Masslive. Dr. Keroack said that outbreak, in a non-COVID unit, occurred after an employee visited an out-of-state virus hot spot. As of Aug. 3, the hospital had identified 55 patient and employee cases.
The medical center has about 6,000 employees and was caring for 78 hospitalized COVID-19 patients as of Nov. 17, according to Masslive.
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