Charlie Merrow, a seventh-generation manager of Merrow Manufacturing in Fall River, estimates the company will produce up to 4 million medical gowns, coveralls and other protective items in the coming months in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Enlisting the help of the Baker administration, Merrow pivoted from making sewing machines and apparel to producing protective…

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Businesses lost even more confidence in the current state of the Massachusetts economy last month but appear to hold out rosier hope for the future, according to survey results released Tuesday by Associated Industries of Massachusetts. AIM’s Business Confidence Index fell 1.8 points after suffering its largest monthly decline ever during March. The Index ended…

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Holyoke Medical Center received an ‘A’ grade from a national organization dedicated to improving healthcare quality and patient safety. The Washington D.C.-based Leapfrog Group, which assigns A, B, C, D and F letter grades to hospitals across the country, released its semi-annual report on Thursday. “Our goal is to inform patients about local hospitals with…

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Springfield Technical Community College’s respiratory care program is lending its five ventilators to area hospitals preparing for a surge in patients due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Christopher Scott, dean of the School of Health and Patient Simulation, said STCC is prepared to donate or lend any equipment hospitals need during the coronavirus emergency. The school…

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A company that specializes in specialized plastic packaging has joined in the fight to prevent the coronavirus from spreading to already-taxed health care workers. Employees at Walter Drake Inc. have gone from making clamshell packaging for electronics, blister packages for pharmaceuticals and trays for many uses to making much-needed plastic face shields for doctors, nurses…

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A fourth round of grants, totaling $226,000, from the COVID-19 Response Fund for the Pioneer Valley has been announced, with healthcare and medical centers in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties receiving the largest portion of the new round as they battle the impact of the disease on the region with surging admissions to hospitals. Grants…

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  We need your help! Baystate Health cares for a population of about 1M people in Western Massachusetts. That’s a lot of people that depend on us, right now more than any other time in modern history. Our care depends on medical supplies that are increasing in short supply, around the country, around the world.…

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