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Hospitals
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Viswanathan of Holyoke Internal Medicine.
“Before the pandemic happened, we were seeing close to zero tele- visits. During the pandemic, we started doing televisits to reduce the number of people coming in. Infection was rampant, and at that time, we didn’t want people in the waiting rooms, and when seeing patients, we needed to be complete- ly in PPE and masks.”
So government did the right thing, he added, freeing up tele- health to be billed like a regular of- fice visit. “Remarkably, it was very popular with patients. They loved it,” he said, noting that patients ap- preciated not having to drive to the office, and if a doctor was running late, it was OK, since they were at home. “They weren’t upset if they were 15 or 20 minutes behind.”
Viswanathan said having the dis- tance alternative reduced anxiety in patients during a generally anxious
time. “They were happy to see us. Even with COVID testing, people had so many questions, and just the fact they could speak with us, com- municate with us, really relieved a lot of the anxiety for them.”
As COVID-19 cases subside, Cameron noted, some practices are going back to seeing most patients in person, but HMC continues to reinforce the use of telehealth. “This is a tool we want to use for the right visits. We want to make sure we give the option to patients. And, as we beef up the technology around it, docs like it.”
Indeed, Marqusee added, “what has been stopping us from doing more telehealth has been reim- bursement; I hope we never go back to the days when we were so un- derpaid for telehealth. It has been a terrific model.”
Staying Vigilant
In the meantime, she sees volume slowly returning to Cooley Dickin- son — perhaps reaching 90% of a typical season come October. “But the reason we welcome those num- bers is because people need to get
care — it’s not because we need the volume. We know from national studies and anecdotally that people have been afraid, and they’re forgo- ing care, and that can really have health impacts for people.”
That’s why her facility, like the others HCN spoke with, is not only maintaining strict protocols around infection control, but is commu- nicating what it’s doing with the community.
“People have to believe that and feel confident. It’s really important that people don’t stay home in pain with issues that will just get worse. People aren’t coming with heart attacks, or appendicitis, or they power through a head injury, and
it turns out they had a brain bleed. People need to come for care, and they should know this is a place they can come and feel comfort- able.”
Not so comfortable, however, that they neglect the behaviors that have reduced infection rates in Western Mass. and allowed hospi- tals to increase their non-COVID-19 services.
“We’re in a good place; there isn’t
a high level of COVID in our com- munity. But that can change quick- ly,” Marqusee said. “I want people to always remember the reason we have low levels of COVID is because of the efforts everyone is making
to social distance, wear masks,
and practice hand hygiene. We shouldn’t take the reopening as a sign they we don’t need to do those things, but to do it even more. That allows us to provide needed care to all our communities.”
Keroack says he expects some pa- tients to enthusiastically return to care providers, while others will be stragglers who need more convinc- ing — while others will continue to embrace telehealth as the best option.
“We may not return to our former volumes until we have a vaccine and everyone feels totally comfortable,” he told HCN. “I think it’s going to be a process.” v
Holyoke Health Center Celebrates 50 Years of Community Service
HOLYOKE — Holyoke Health Center (HHC), located at 230 Maple St. in Holyoke, recently celebrated its 50th anniversary with an outdoor and socially distanced event.
Opening as a component of the federally supported Model Cities Program, HHC outgrew its small building in the Flats neighborhood
of Holyoke and developed a successful facil-
ity across from City Hall, in the single largest downtown development to occur in Holyoke. The current HHC facility is more than 100,000 square feet, large enough to meet the needs of more than 20,000 patients.
The complex of four integrated buildings in- cludes a large, innovative community pharma- cy staffed by 14 pharmacists; the area’s largest dental-services program, which includes adult, pediatric, and orthodontic services; the Center for Recovery & Support, which treats hun- dreds of patients with substance-use disorders;
a growing eye-care program; and its flagship comprehensive medical program serving chil- dren, adolescents, adults, and elderly patients. To meet the needs of patients in surrounding communities, HHC built additional locations in Chicopee to provide medical, dental, and pharmacy services, and in Westfield to provide additional dental services.
Throughout the past 50 years, HHC has responded to health issues connected to low- income status, including the HIV/AIDS epi- demic. HHC took the lead in responding to
the epidemic in the community by conducting research, education, screening, and ultimately developing a highly successful medical team to treat the illness. During the 1980s, HIV/AIDS treatment was not widely available, and HHC was one of the only healthcare providers in the area delivering HIV/AIDS care and providing treatment.
Now, with the COVID-19 global pandemic, HHC is again taking the local lead in educa- tion, prevention, and treatment, supporting contact tracing, providing drive-thru testing, and quickly establishing clinical approaches to contain and treat the virus, while it is spreading and rearranging the way the community lives and works.
HHC has been at the forefront of creating a teaching facility to train the healthcare provid- ers of tomorrow. Residency programs in adult dentistry, pediatric dentistry, pharmacy, and
a new family nurse practitioner program are currently bringing 16 professionals from across the country to HHC each year. Many residents participating in these programs go on to join the permanent staff of HHC, ensuring that the services and programs developed over the past
50 years will
continue to thrive and evolve.
(chair, vinyasa, power, flow). Results in Wellness, LLC aims
to provide a central venue where the community is given a pathway to participate in various services, workshops, and education around natural products. For scheduling, visit www.resultsinwellnessllc.com or call (413) 642-5587.
Results in Wellness, LLC Opens New Wellness Center
WESTFIELD — Results In Well- ness, LLC announced the opening of its wellness center at 93 Spring- field Road, Suite B, Westfield. It is a company of like-minded profes- sionals in the health, wellness, finance, fitness, and beauty indus- tries creating a pathway for those who desire to improve the quality
of their lives and thrive.
Services offered include Active
Release Techniques, acupuncture and Chinese medicine, an estheti- cian, body-work therapy, chiro- practic, clinical psychotherapy, health and wellness coaching, infrared sauna, physical therapy, Reiki therapy, and SALT Booth.
Workshops include Acupunc- ture 30-minute Wellness Breaks, Business Coaching, Cane Defense, Creative Mindfulness, Healing with Art, Financial Guidance to Peace of Mind, Make Your Own Essential Oils, Meditation, MELT Method, Psychic/Medium Read- ings, Sound Meditation, and Yoga