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WORCESTER — In a letter to their striking colleagues on Wednesday, doctors at St. Vincent Hospital are imploring nurses to return to work to help patients amid a COVID-19 surge.

The nurses' strike, the longest such strike in state history, reached 199 days on Wednesday.

The nurses strike at Saint Vincent Hospital, which began in March, reached its 200th day on Thursday.

The hiatus between the Massachusetts Nurses Association and Tenet Healthcare began over staffing but now continues because of a return-to-work provision.

The largest hospital system in Central Massachusetts, UMass Memorial Health, ran out of intensive care beds Wednesday as critically ill patients with deferred chronic health problems and those stricken with COVID-19 overwhelm health care providers.

Dr. Eric Dickson, president and chief executive of the system, described the situation as dire, but said patients are getting the care they need. UMass has hospitals in Worcester, Marlborough, Leominster, and Southbridge.

Dr. Eric Dickson is weary. He says the hospital system he heads has reached a crisis point.

He's the president and CEO of UMass Memorial Health, based in Worcester. He says the region has almost 20 times more COVID patients hospitalized than in June, and that as of Tuesday, there is not a single intensive care hospital bed available in central Massachusetts. When a bed opens, there's a patient waiting to take it.

WORCESTER, Mass. — Almost six months after becoming eligible to get it, Sarah Thorstenson was finally convinced to get the COVID-19 vaccine by her own eyes.

“Absolutely, if you would see these people -- if the people at home could see what’s going on in here -- there would be no doubt you would go an get the vaccine don’t wait until it’s too late,” Thorstenson said.

Dr. Eric Dickson, president and CEO of UMass Memorial Health, called the current hospital system in central Massachusetts a 'crisis situation.' He said the ongoing strike between Tenet Healthcare and nurses at Saint Vincent Hospital plays a major role.

"We need to get those 600 nurses on the sidelines back to work," Dr. Dickson said. "Get those beds open."

WORCESTER, Mass. - Every year, UMass Memorial Health collects unwanted firearms in exchange for gift cards, and now they're putting the guns they destroy to use.

Worcester medical leaders say the city’s hospital system is overwhelmed as COVID-19 cases surge again.

Doctors say about 130 people are hospitalized across central Massachusetts for COVID-19. At the end of June, the number was less than 10.

WORCESTER — The head of UMass Memorial Health pleaded Friday for a resolution to the strike at St. Vincent Hospital, saying the city was in “a crisis situation” due to a resurgent pandemic and reduced hospital capacity while nurses are on the picket line.