Cooley Dickinson Opens COVID-19 Community Call Center

NORTHAMPTON — As part of its mission to provide the community with personalized, compassionate, and personalized care and to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cooley Dickinson Health Care has opened a COVD-19 community call center.

“We want our community to know that we are here for them and doing all we can to provide them with links to medical resources and credible, trusted information,” said Cooley Dickinson President and CEO Joanne Marqusee.

The COVID-19 call center is staffed seven days a week by healthcare workers who can field general questions about COVID-19. Those types of inquiries include how and where to donate medical-grade supplies; how to access a primary-care provider, if someone doesn’t have one; and where to seek care for something other than a respiratory illness, such as urgent care. Online resources are also available from the Cooley Dickinson website.

To contact the COVID-19 call center, weekdays from 8 a.m. to ­6:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m, call (888) 554-4234.

Anyone who thinks they have COVID-19 or is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should call their primary-care provider to report their symptoms. After screening the patient, that provider will advise if testing is needed and will explain how to obtain that testing. The call center can advise those who do not have a primary-care provider, and Cooley Dickinson has many providers accepting new patients.

Testing continues to be limited. Cooley Dickinson is following strict testing criteria so that it tests those for whom testing will make the most clinical difference.

Cooley Dickinson has taken a series of steps to help protect patients, including restricting visitors, and postponing elective procedures and most non-essential visits.

“We encourage everyone to stay home, isolate, and practice social distancing and good hand hygiene,” Marqusee said. “That is the best thing we can all do to help decrease the transmission of the virus.”