Heywood Healthcare closes mental health unit in cost-saving move – The Gardner News

GARDNER The mental health unit at Heywood Healthcare has been closed for the time being and its staff members placed on furlough as the financial effects of the coronavirus outbreak continue to be felt in the local health care system.

Heywood Healthcare President and CEO Win Brown said it was a low point in the day when the decision was made to place themental health unit staff on furlough.

It doesnt seem like it should be this way given the pandemic, and you would think we would have a much stronger behavioral health population needing inpatient care, but that is not the case, said Brown.

He explained that because patient numbers dropped off, HeywoodHealthcare closed the adult mental health unit and made the difficult decision to furlough the staff for the month.

Now if that volume does come back, we can always turn the MHU back on, but its just a truly unexpected piece of whats happening to us in our region, so I am sorry for the staff that we have had to furlough for the month. Hopefully that volume will return and we will turn the MHU back on, he said.

The news follows the recent announcement that nearly thee hundred staffers would face temporary furlough or other cost-savings measures as Heywood Healthcare copes with a sharp drop-off in patient volume and subsequent decline in revenue. Heywood also announced this week that it cut five staff positions at the Winchendon Health Center.

Brown said the good news is that Heywood has discharged three of its long-term COVID-19 patients who all came through the intensive care unit and have done exceptionally well after a very long journey.

We sent them off in Heywood Strong style tonight, said Brown.

The patients were escorted in their beds while staff lined the halls from the ICU to their recovery rooms. They were applauded and congratulated all the way.

Small uptick in virus cases

On Friday, April 17, local coronavirus cases rose slightly from the night before.

There have been so far 1,483 tests for the virus, with 1,177 negative results and 249 positive for the infection, seven more than the previous evening. Nine test results have been returned as undetermined. There is currently a 17.5 percent positive infection rate at Heywood compared to the states 22.9 percent.

Massachusetts has tested 141,000 cases to date, with the virus detected in about 32,000 patients. There have been 1,245 deaths in the state from COVID-19.

At Heywood, there are six positive cases in-house. Four patients are under investigation while waiting for test results to return.

Brown told his staff that the DoubleTree Hilton in Leominster is a place health care workers are invited to stay.

See original here:
Heywood Healthcare closes mental health unit in cost-saving move - The Gardner News