Page 22 - BusinessWest January 6, 2021

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK 2021 >>
Healthcare
A Q&A with Baystate Health President and CEO Dr. Mark Keroack
Editor’s Note: One of the sectors most impacted by the pandemic — and one facing a great number of questions mov-
ing forward — is healthcare. We put some questions to Baystate Health President and CEO Dr. Mark Keroack, who has become a very visible leader during this crisis and was recent- ly named one of BusinessWest’s Healthcare Heroes for 2020.
BusinessWest: Dr. Keroack, already we’re see- ing a great deal of optimism and expectation accompanying the arrival of vaccines in this nation and this region. What are your thoughts on the impact these vaccines will have on the broader economic picture in this region and when that impact will be seen?
Dr. Keroack: The vaccines represent a major scientific breakthrough, and they are the begin- ning of the end of the pandemic. Economies depend on consumer confidence, and, there- fore, I have always seen recovery from the pan- demic and recovery of the economy as one and the same. Removing the pandemic will boost
confidence and enable the economy to recover. What is less clear is which businesses will have survived the terri- ble stress test of 2020 to even be able to recover.
BusinessWest: ‘Nor-
mal’ is a word we hear
a lot these days, as in
‘when things return to
normal.’ With the vac-
cines now here, is there
any more clarity on when ‘normal’ — as in pre- COVID — may return?
Dr. Keroack: I believe that when a majority of people — more than 70% — receive the vac- cine and are immune, case numbers will fall precipitously because the virus will not be able to find new hosts easily. That will enable govern- mental leaders to lift the restrictions we all have been struggling with these past several months. I suspect that will happen in late spring or early
“The light at the end of the tunnel is real, but it is still months away, and we are now in a perilous situation with more virus circulating in the community than we had last spring.
summer.
BusinessWest: Dr. Keroack, this has been a trying year for the healthcare system and hospi- tals in general. Can you in any way anticipate what 2021 will be like — both in terms of provid- ing services and from a business (bottom-line) perspective?
Dr. Keroack: I think we should expect con-
Healthcare
Continued on page 26
DR. MARK KEROACK
”
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ECONOMIC OUTLOOK 2021
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