CHICOPEE — Although the United States appears to be emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, the president and CEO of Baystate Health said he does not expect things will ever return fully to normal.
Instead, said Dr. Mark Keroack, people should get used to a new normal that may be around for decades.
Speaking at the fourth annual leadership breakfast at Elms College on Friday, Keroack said that when an event as profound as a global pandemic takes place, the world is forever changed in ways both good and bad.
“It is time to be thankful for our blessings. It is also time, I think, to reflect on what we’ve all been through and how our world has changed,” Keroack said.
“And there is always change.”
He noted that when the bubonic plague killed off one-third of Europe in the 14th Century, it led to a period of creativity in the arts, architecture and literature known as the Renaissance.
After the AIDS epidemic, which killed millions of people since the early 1980s, society developed a more permissive attitude toward gay, lesbian and transgender people, he said.
In the post-pandemic world, Keroack said “I have three predictions and one fervent hope.”
The three predictions are that the workplace has changed and employers need to take into account the wellbeing of current and future employees, that “virtual” meetings over the internet are here to stay, and that Americans will want and expect more out of their health care.
He said his one hope is that people will realize that there will be greater understanding and appreciation of the societal connections among people.
“The virus was trying to teach us a great lesson, if only we learn it. The health and wellbeing of each of us is connected to the health and wellbeing of all of us.”
Keroack, by virtue of his role at Baystate Health, was the most visible medical experts during the worst of the pandemic. He did countless interviews in print, on TV and radio about what was known about the virus and what was unknown. He offered advice to business, municipal and civic leaders on staying safe. He appeared regularly at Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno’s coronavirus updates at City Hall.
As program emcee Rick Sullivan of the Western Massachusetts Economic Council, put it, “He is our Dr. Fauci.”
Keroack said the number of daily COVID-19 cases at Baystate hospitals is now below 20. At its peak, it was more than 100 per day every day for months at a time.
In all, Baystate facilities treated 4,100 cases and saw 540 deaths.
In the aftermath, more than 1,000 of Baystate Health’s 12,000 employees either retired early, resigned or requested special accommodations to be able to work remotely.
This has put a great strain on remaining staff, and forced Baystate Health to look for ways to look for and hire capable talent from around the region, which has always been historically difficult in the best of times, he said.
Employers in the future are going to make the development, safety and retention of the workforce a top priority.
“I used to think If I could just focus on what was best for the patient, that everything would be ok,” he said. “Now realize that it’s an equally important job for me to focus on the wellbeing of the team so they can give their best.”
Baystate is instituting a $15 per hour minimum wage for entry-level hospital support positions, and is looking for ways to hire more people of color, he said.
He said roughly 25% of Baystate Health employees are people of color, but in leadership positions and among doctors and nurses, is it closer to 10% to 15%.
Baystate is exploring ways to identify and correct what he called institutional biases in hiring.
“While many organizations are acknowledging systemic racism, very few have a road map on how to eliminate it or address it” Keroack said.
“Workforce issues are not just a question of economics, it’s not just a question of supply and demand. Not only will there be fewer workers in the next generation, but they will also be more diverse and demanding of workplaces,” he said.
The pandemic introduced people to virtual meetings, and he does not expect that to go away. Roughly 30 percent of doctor consultations with patients are done remotely over the internet, and both seem to like it that way, Keroack said.
“Consumers of all backgrounds and ages are now used to dealing with the world virtually and insisting on conveniences — and we are not going to be able to put that genie back in the bottle,” he said.
Roughly 25% of Baystate’s 12,000 employees work remotely, and productivity has surged. There are discussions ongoing about whether they need to be back at their offices.
Companies across the country will be having similar discussions, Keroack said. And if employees do not need to come to the office to get their jobs done, what do employers do with all the empty office space, he asked.
His third prediction is that there will be increased support for more government involvement in health care, even beyond the 70 percent it currently supports through Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Affairs and the Affordable Care Act.
So many people lost their jobs and their health insurance when the economy shut down during the pandemic.
If it were possible for people to opt out of employer-based health coverage for a public option offered by the federal government, he said “there would be a stampede for the public option.”
“People will be expecting to spend less and get more for their health care dollar and they are right to do so. The United States has the most expensive system in the world and the clinical results that don’t even put us in the top 20 of modern industrialized nations,” he said.
Some 100 people attended the breakfast in person with an unknown number watching it remotely via Zoom.
Elms College President Harry Dumay said there are signs every day that the college will return to “as close to normal as possible” by the start of the fall semester.
The college is finalizing plans for in-person instruction, open dorms and dining halls, and a full range of athletics, he said.
Preliminary figures have the college on track to have one of its largest first-year classes in years, he said. The number of new students paying their deposit is 120% above the 2019 amount.
“What this all means is that we are currently on track for the largest first-year class in our history,” Dumay said. “I’m not counting our chickens just yet but the admission data are trending in a very positive direction.
