Mayor Sarno and HHS Commissioner Caulton-Harris Announce Senior Centers and Libraries to Switch to Hybrid Operations
Springfield, MA – Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris announced today that due to an alarming and significant increase in COVID-19 cases and out of an abundance of caution, the City of Springfield’s senior centers and public libraries will switch to hybrid operations. In addition, residents and businesses are encouraged to conduct their city related business online, if possible, or to call the appropriate city department to schedule an appointment to conduct city related business. Walk-ins will still be accepted.
Senior Centers will remain open for lunches, but most programing will be suspended, effective immediately, until Friday, January 28, 2022. The SCSEP Program (Senior Aide), S.H.I.N.E., and Senior Outreach Division will continue to operate but by appointment only.
All neighborhood library branches will suspend programing but will offer pickup services for library patrons. All neighborhood library branches will operate between the hours of 1:00 – 5:00 pm, with the exception of Pine Point which will operation Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1:00 – 5:00 pm. All branches, except Pine Point and Brightwood, will be open on Saturday, 11:00 am – 3:00 pm. The Central Library will be open Monday – Thursday, 1:00 – 5:00 pm, Saturday 1:00 – 5:00pm and Sunday 12:00 – 5:00pm. Library patrons may enter their local library to pick up their materials but all programing will be suspended, including computer access and usage.
These changes will continue throughout the month of January. On Monday, January 31, 2022, Mayor Sarno, HHS Commissioner Caulton-Harris and cabinet heads will reconvene to review and evaluate the situation to determine if these changes will be extended or lifted.
Mayor Sarno states, “Due to the significant increase in COVID-19 cases and out of an abundance of caution, Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris has notified me that our senior centers and public libraries will be switching to hybrid operations. Our senior centers will continue to offer lunches for our seniors and our neighborhood library branches will be offering pickup services. Additionally, we are respectfully asking residents and businesses to temporarily conduct their city related business remotely online, if possible, or to call the city department to schedule an appointment. Walk-ins will still be welcomed and accepted, however due to the increase in cases we want to encourage constituents to seek these alternative means to conduct their city related business out of an abundance of caution and to preserve and protect our workforce so that we can continue to provide much-needed and vital services for our residents and business community.”
HHS Commissioner Caulton-Harris stated, “As we continue to see an alarming increase in cases we need to adjust how we conduct business, similar to what we had done previously to protect our workforce and our residents. Our neighborhood library branches will continue to offer pickup services and our senior citizens will still be able to have lunch but all programing will be suspended until January 28th. We will reconvene on Monday, January 31st to review and assess the data to determine our next course of action moving forward.”
The City of Springfield continues to see an alarming increase in positive COVID-19 cases, especially in the younger population. For the week of December 26, 2021, the city reported a record breaking number of 2,328 cases, with 52% or 1,209 of the case being under the age of 30, compared to December 19, 2021, the city reported 1,132 cases, with 57% or 643 of the case being under the age of 30. Below is the weekly breakdown of cases over the past four weeks.
| Week of December 26, 2021 | 2,328 |
| Week of December 19, 2021 | 1,132 |
| Week of December 12, 2021 | 997 |
| Week of December 5, 2021 | 783 |
Please contact the appropriate city department at the contact info listed below to schedule an appointment to conduct your city related business. Please note that walk-ins are still being accepted at this time.
| Department | Phone | |
| 311 Call Center | (413) 736-3111 | 311@springfieldcityhall.com |
| Assessors | (413) 886-5256 | assessors_email@springfieldcityhall.com |
| Building Dept./Code | (413) 787-6031 | |
| Clerk | (413) 787-4957 | ClerksAppointment@springfieldcityhall.com |
| Collectors/Treasurer | (413) 787-6135 | |
| City Library | (413) 263-6828 | E-Library Access: |
| Elections | (413) 787-6190 | |
| Health and Human Services | (413) 787-6741 | |
| Housing | (413) 787-6500 | |
| Mayor’s Office | (413) 787-6100 | |
| Mayor’s Office of Consumer Information | (413) 787-6437 | moci@springfieldcityhall.com |
Police Department
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(413) 787-6310 (413) 787-6300
(413) 787-6359
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Community Liaison: sarce@springfieldpolice.net
If you are not able to find your desired department or service, please call Records at 787-6363 or the Watch Commander at 787-6325.
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| Retirement | (413) 787-6090 | |
| Veteran’s Services | (413) 787-6141 |
At this time, all City of Springfield employees will continue to report to work as directed. Departments will remain open and will continue to provide services for our residents and business community.
The City of Springfield will continue to maintain all essential functions and services. Residents are encouraged to conduct their city related business remotely when possible by utilizing our 311 Call Center at (413) 736-3111 and our website at www.springfield-ma.gov.
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Mayor Sarno added, “Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood and Fire Commissioner BJ Calvi have informed me earlier this morning that that we are currently down 10% of our public safety division between SPD and SFD. I want to reassure our residents and business community that our emergency services such as Police, Fire, Health, Building and Code, and DPW will continue to operate without interruption. Our brave and dedicated Police and Fire personnel will continue to receive and respond to calls and DPW will continue to collect trash and recycling.”
“Additionally, I have instructed Chief Administrative and Financial Officer (CAFO) TJ Plante to purchase more of the rapid COVID-19 at-home testing kits from the state for our workforce and residents,” Mayor Sarno continued. “We will also review our supply of much-needed PPE’s for our workforce and continue with our deep cleaning and sanitizing efforts that to Executive Director of Parks, Buildings and Recreation Management Patrick Sullivan and his team.”
“On behalf of the City of Springfield, we deeply appreciate everyone’s continued patience and understanding during these extraordinary and surreal times. Again, our city team has been tested and true through a number of natural and man-made disasters. I cannot stress enough how important it is to follow and abide by the precautionary and recommended health measures that are being issued. It may seem simple and common sense, however these efforts will help meet and defeat this challenge before us. My administration will continue to provide the most recent updates and developments as we have done before during challenging times. We will get through this together. We are Springfield strong. May God Bless you and your families,” said Mayor Sarno.
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Furthermore, following Mayor Sarno’s call to the Baker-Polito Administration on Sunday, December 2, 2022, requesting another regional testing site and assistance from the National Guard, Mayor Sarno spoke with both Lt. Governor Karyn Polito and Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders office early this morning about his request of opening a second regional testing site to ease the burden upon the overwhelmed AMR testing site at the Eastfield Mall.
“Lt. Governor Polito and Secretary Sudders office reached out to me to confirm that they have heard my plea for help and will review what can plausibly be done to address these concerns,” Mayor Sarno said, “Again, in speaking with AMR Director of Operations Patrick Leonardo, Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris, Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood and Chief of Staff Tom Ashe early this Monday morning, it is essential that we receive this assistance in order to not only provide for our Springfield residents but also the many residents of Western Massachusetts and even Connecticut who are flocking to the Eastfield Mall regional site. I also must be respectful to the Eastfield Mall being able to conduct their own retail business aspects. I deeply appreciate Governor Baker and Lt. Governor Polito’s past assistance when I called, and I remain hopeful that they can once again find a solution to alleviate AMR’s overwhelmed testing site at the Eastfield Mall.”
“I also want to encourage everyone to get vaccinated and their booster shot. Even without this log jam of traffic and high demand at the Eastfield Mall testing site where some people had to wait three to four hours to get tested, you can get your Vax shot or booster in no time at one of the many vaccination clinics throughout our city and including at your local pharmacy stores such as CVS and Walgreens.”