BOSTON -- The security squeeze during the week of the Democratic National Convention is already being felt at Boston hospitals.

Video

Jim Morelli Reports On Hospitals

NewsCenter 5's Jim Morelli reported that with much of the city sealed off during the last week of July, downtown medical centers must prepare for the worst while caring for the patients they already have.

"It's an unprecedented event so nobody can predict what is going to happen," said Bonnie Michelman, MGH security director.

Each day, up to 70,000 people pass through the Massachusetts General Hospital campus, offering plenty for the hospital's security officers to worry about. But for three days this month, Mass General will be on edge of the DNC's crowds.

"With the distance from here to the FleetCenter, and the intensity of this event, I suspect that we will be affected," said Michelman.

Containing thousands of people who can't move anywhere fast means the hospital could be an inviting target.

"We have a balance of things that we are doing. Obviously, I am not going to go into more detail than that, that will insure that we are protected," said Michelman.

But no one can protect the hospital from the population it serves, and there are concerns that the emergency department could become overwhelmed by injured patients.

"There's probably going to be a lot of people who have minor injures, there are going to be people that are needing some treatment here, and will have a major impact on us," said Michelman.

Suburban hospitals are feeling the stress too. About 17 miles north of Boston, Burlington's Lahey Clinic is anticipating possible trouble during the DNC.

"We're concerned that patients who normally would go into town for their care will have some difficulty getting in there," said the Lahey Clinic's Dr. Malcom Creighton.

And that could mean problems for Lahey's emergency department, capable of handling almost any medical problem, but not large enough to handle a tidal wave of patients.

"We're staffing the emergency department as best we can to be ready for anything. We hope for the best and plan for the worst," said Creighton.

Creighton also said that Lahey is not a labor-and-delivery hospital and advised patients living north of Boston that if they go into labor during the DNC, they should head to Winchester Hospital.