Rewind: 40 Years of News, Entertainment and More
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Oh, how MBI has grown I
of advances – and financial gains – have been made from the investment in biotechnology. About a year before the publication of that story by Allen Steele in Worcester Magazine, Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives launched here in the city. The MBI describes itself as a private, independent economic development organization that serves as a catalyst for life science and healthcare innovation. Its goal is to help start biomedical companies and create jobs within the Biotechnology, Medical Device, Informatics, and Biomanufacturing industry by providing secure, clean bench and sink surface, staff trained and fully licensed laboratory space for usage by “seed stage” companies. MBI has definitely lived up to its goal. Chief Operating Officer John Weaver describes the company as having been, “very busy since 1986 and the industry has really thrived in the biomedical corridor between Worcester and Cambridge.” According to the MBI website, in 1985, “MBI’s Board of Trustees embarked on a strategy to fully develop the potential of Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives as a public/private partnership for accelerating
n 1986 Worcester Magazine published a cover story “Weird Science: The promise and pitfalls of biotechnology.” Allen Steele Jr wrote the story. This week we take a look at the impact of biotech here in Worcester. “In the 1980s, one of the leading frontiers of applied science is biotechnology — essentially, the technology of manipulating basic biological components. Actually, the science has been with us for some time. Genetic tailoring was invented by the Austrian monk Gregor Mendel when he crossbred pea plants, and cheese and wine makers have been using various slime molds for centuries to make curdled milk into Roquefort or grapes into burgundy. “However, in the last few years biotechnology has stepped up its pace, and although great fortunes have yet to be made form it, it is seen as one of the big draws for venture capital. Advances in genetic science, pharmaceutical medicine, hospital health care and agriculture have spawned thousands of new biotech businesses, developing everything from growth hormones to genetically engineered insulin to better kinds of cheese.” That was in 1986. Thirty years later, plenty PoP continued from page 4
with patients with end-stage renal disease, congestive heart failure, cancer [or other diseases].” While palliative care comes late in the game, not all patients will die in the hospital. Some will transition back home, or be moved to another facility for hospice. Doering said there are stretches when there are few or no patients requiring a volunteer. “It is hard to predict when someone’s going to be actively dying in the hospital,” he said, pointing out there were four patients in a row requiring the program’s services at the beginning of February. “There’s been a little bit of a lull since then.” Still, since each volunteer must perform a minimum of two hours of service a week, other volunteer programs at UMass are available. Specifically, the PoP program has opened up an alternative opportunity in the oncology unit on the sixth floor of the hospital. “You can go up there and spend two hours talking with oncology patients,” Doering said. Such a partnership makes sense, according to Fitch, because most oncology nurses are the best-trained in end-of-life care. She said the program is starting the formal process of training the nurses in palliative care. That should complete within the next year, Fitch said. “There should always be a nurse on every shift who is an expert on palliative medicine,” she said. “[The oncology unit] will be the
home for volunteers, and if we have people dying in other parts of the hospital they can kind of branch out from there.” PoP volunteers go through a full day of training, and can become involved by contacting Doering, who then connects the applicant with the hospital’s director of volunteer services. An application must be completed, along with immunization records. A criminal offender background check is also performed. Doering also conducts a “side interview,” because he said the role can prove potentially difficult for the volunteer. “We ask questions like, ‘What draws you to this? What are you hoping to get out of this?,’” Fitch said, adding someone who has recently suffered the loss of a friend or family member would likely not qualify for a volunteer role, since it could trigger feelings the individual has not yet processed. Training consists of educating prospective volunteers on precisely what the end of life looks like. “We do some videos,” Fitch said. “If you have not heard a death rattle or seen someone agitated, it might be somewhat upsetting. We talk about what kinds of needs a patient might have, self care, and how to care for yourself and support your colleagues, because it is emotionally demanding.” The most recent training session incorporated hand and foot therapeutic massage, she said. “At bedside,” Fitch said of qualities volunteers might need and duties he or she
might perform, “you really just comfort the patient in whatever way is appropriate. Therapeutic touch is important, your voice, being able to just be a normal human being and ask them, ‘What’s bothering you?’ Conversational skills, dealing with thing people might say that might be disturbing.” Volunteers will interact with mostly nurses, Fitch and Doering say, and should feel comfortable dealing with sometimes difficult situations. HIPAA laws also apply, meaning volunteers are restricted from discussing a specific patient’s case outside the hospital. When on-boarding, or training, is finished, and a volunteer is recruited, a schedule is created, and when a nurse calls for PoP care, Doering said he determines is on the schedule for that day, and will text or email. If it is especially close to the volunteer’s start time, he said he will call the individual. “[Volunteers] act as if you will, in fact, be called in for those hours,” Doering said. “You probably won’t be called in for those hours … and we can rearrange, maybe, if you’re really overwhelmed that month. We haven’t had that, yet.” As for who might best qualify or want to volunteer for palliative care, Fitch said the reasons vary. “I think people have a lot of reasons,” for wanting to provide care to a dying person, Fitch said. “Being with someone not only at the time of birth. A lot of people say birth is so special, but actually the time of death is special as well, and it has a lot of mystery
health and life science commercial development. In doing so, they built upon the potential of the strong commercial and academic base in Massachusetts and the promise of the UMass Medicine Science Park development within the central part of the state.” The company has developed seven incubators with four facilities located in Worcester (two on Prescott Street, one on Barber Ave, another on Union Street)—all of which are beautiful, and has created 105 companies since 2000, with a total of 476 jobs. The estimated cumulative economic impact is $582,435,000, according to the company’s most recent year-end report. On top of those numbers, the company boasts a 74-percent success rate. Not too shabby. - Tom Matthews surrounding it.” While palliative care is relatively new in the world of medicine, it has increasingly grown in popularity, to where Fitch said there will be a deficit of palliative medicine physicians in the next 20 years. “There are not enough fellowship programs,” she said, noting the absence of a program at UMass. “We’re working on it pretty hard.” Plans are in the works, also, to expand the PoP program to the UMass Memorial campus on Belmont Street sometime in the fall. Anyone interested in volunteering for the PoP may attend the training session Saturday, April 30, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at UMass Medical Center. “We’re hoping more for community volunteers, rather than undergraduates,” Doering said. “The fall training is more for undergraduates.” Snowbirds are welcome too, the hospital said. Walter Bird Jr. is editor of Worcester Magazine. Call him at 508-749-3166 or email wbird@worcestermagazine.com. Follow Walter on Twitter @walterbirdjr and “friend” him on Facebook. You may also catch Walter every week as a panelist on WCCA TV 194’s “Rosen’s Roundtable.” Walter may also be heard with WCRN’s Hank Stolz on their new podcast, “Hank and Walter on Worcester,” every Monday online at worcestermagazine.com. MARCH 10, 2016 • WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM
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