STEPPING UP TO CARE FOR
VETERANS
WHEN THE STATE ASKED HOLYOKE MEDICAL CENTER TO TAKE IN RESIDENTS OF THE SOLDIERS’ HOME DURING THE PANDEMIC, ROOMS AND CARE WERE ARRANGED IN A MATTER OF HOURS.
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SOME OF THE FIRST AREA residents to be personally impacted by the COVID-19 crisis were the veterans at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, where a significant outbreak occurred. “We had heard that there was an outbreak at the Soldiers’ Home,” says Spiros Hatiras, President and CEO of Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems. “Then, around 7:30 a.m. on Friday, April 3, I received a call from Dan Tsai at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. He said they were trying to relocate some residents out of the
Soldiers’ Home to curb the outbreak and really needed our help.” Hatiras considered the most pressing challenge—where to put approximately 40 residents the state hoped the hospital could accommodate. He thought of two areas that could possibly work: an outpatient cardiac services unit, and the maternity unit, which has had declining volume for several years. Hatiras immediately checked with Colleen Desai, Chief Nursing Officer, and Carl Cameron, Chief Operations Officer. “I asked them, ‘Is
COVID-19 SPECIAL ISSUE
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