WORCESTER, MA – APRIL 7: Makeshift hospital rooms fill the floor in the first field hospital in the state of Massachusetts at the DCU Center in downtown Worcester, MA on Apr. 7, 2020 as the state prepares for an expected surge in coronavirus patients. UMass Memorial Health Care will operate the pop-up hospital, which is the first one of three that the state is planning to open. The facility is expected to open Thursday, April 9. (Photo by Erin Clark for The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Worcester's COVID-19 Field Hospital will suspend its operations by mid-March and go into a "hibernation" period, officials confirmed Friday.
The field hospital, located inside Worcester's DCU Center, provides lower-level in-patient coronavirus treatment.
The hospital reopened in December 2020 in an effort to avoid overwhelming the Massachusetts health care system. At full capacity, the field hospital can accommodate 220 patients, though there are far less patients there currently seeking care.
A hospital spokesperson told NBC 10 Boston that staff will begin to screen patients on March 10 to ensure they are ready to be discharged by March 15.
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In the meantime, the hospital still plans to accept patients with mild cases of COVID-19.
The hospital will suspend operations by 7 p.m. on March 15 and go into "hibernation" mode while continuing to monitor COVID-19 trends across the state. From there, the state will decide whether to resume operations or close the field hospital.
