West Springfield truckers honored by Baystate for role in covert operation to obtain COVID masks

May 26, 2023

SPRINGFIELD – In the "craziest episode in the 140 years" at Baystate Health, a trucking firm and two drivers saved the day in a cloak-and-dagger operation to get desperately needed masks to healthcare workers.

Over the past three years, the story of the extraordinary efforts to secure the masks has been repeated in The New York Times, broadcast on CNN and appeared in other national news.

But little has been said about the people who actually delivered the masks. That ended Monday.

Three years ago, about a month into the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital officials found themselves with less than a week's worth of medical grade N95 masks. Nurses, doctors and other personnel were using upwards of 2,000 a day — and the only way to keep them safe, so they could treat patients, was to find more, said Mark Keroack, Baystate's president and CEO.

Baystate's supply experts were calling in every favor, every friend of a friend and every sketchy contact they could find in the hopes of making it through a few more weeks, said Patrick Sheehy, vice president of finance and supply chain for Baystate.

Baystate has long kept a pile of supplies in a warehouse and had backup plans so it never faced an equipment shortage. But COVID changed that. Even staff who were experts at finding things were coming up empty, no matter who they contacted.

Baystate Health's vice president of finance hospital operations and supply chain, Pat Sheehy, shakes hands with A-C Motor Express employees as they are being honored at Baystate Medical Center Monday. The business provided Baystate Health with trucks and drivers in procuring personal protective equipment at the start of COVID-19 pandemic. (Hoang 'Leon' Nguyen / The Republican)

And then lightning struck. A guy who called himself Jersey Joe was ready to broker a deal in a New Jersey suburb close to Philadelphia that would secure between 500,000 and 1 million KN95 masks from China, Sheehy said.

Baystate trustees agreed to cut a check for $3.5 million for the supplies. MassMutual offered a private plane to send a team down to test them and buy them if they passed.

But as soon as the team arrived at the warehouse, and confirmed the masks were medical grade through a fit test, they were confronted by a team of agents from the FBI and Homeland Security, said Dr. Andrew Artenstein, the Baystate Health chief physician executive and chief academic officer, who lead the team.

"Just that weekend they started reporting that the administration was seizing materials," Artenstein said. "In fact, there was some thinking that some of the materials were being seized and rerouted to donors and friends of government officials because there was such a scarce amount, so we were very concerned."

The agents said they were checking to ensure the materials were not going to the black market, so the team waited. After six hours, Artenstein called Keroack, explained the snag that could topple the deal and asked if the Baystate president had any ideas.

"Every day of the pandemic was a set of problems I had never seen before and I don't think anyone had seen before. But this one had to take the cake," Keroack said.

Phone a friend

Out of desperation, he called U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, then chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee. Keroack said he doesn't know who Neal talked to, or what he did, but Neal and his staff sealed the deal.

Baystate had to find someone it could trust to drive the precious cargo back to Massachusetts. That someone turned out to A-C Motor Express, a family owned business in West Springfield.

After state and national COVID emergencies expired in May, Keroack and Artenstein said it was finally time to formally thank A-C Motor Express owners John Nekitopoulos and his sisters, Kathy Nekitopoulos and Susan Maxfield, and their drivers.

Their involvement started the same way a lot of the mask search took place.

"My best friend's father was a trucker, so I talked to him and he said call them," said Kelly Salls, director of finance for Baystate Health.

Juliana Nekitopoulos, a nurse at Baystate Medical Center, all smiles while looking at her dad John Nekitopoulos as he's being honored at Baystate Medical Center Monday. John and his business, A-C Motor Express, provided Baystate Health with trucks and drivers in procuring personal protective equipment at the start of COVID-19 pandemic. (Hoang 'Leon' Nguyen / The Republican)

Meanwhile, John Nekitopoulos said he had just been meeting with others in the company about efforts to disinfect the trucks and make sure their drivers – who mostly carry food to supermarket warehouses – were safe. During that discussion, they asked each other if they were doing enough to help the community through COVID.

"Everyone was looking for a way to help and no one knew what to do," he said.

Then the phone rang. Nekitopoulos, whose daughter Juliana had started working at Baystate as a nurse, not only agreed to the mission, but refused to take any money for the work, Keroack said.

"I realized my job was to take care of the people who take care of patients," Keroack said. "It was really harrowing and for you to deliver us from that scary outcome, we are very much in your debt."

‘Stroke of luck’

As the story has been repeated, many people have said using trucks marked for groceries was a "stroke of genius" in the covert operation. Keroack admitted it was more a "stroke of luck" since that is what A-C Motor Express mostly delivers.

Because he knew the route was going to be complex and the drive difficult, Nekitopoulos said he asked for volunteers. Nearly all of his staff stepped up. Many offered to deliver the masks without pay.

He didn't take them up on that offer. Driver Francisco Miranda said he had to take the next day off because his hours exceeded federal regulations and Nekitopoulos paid him for that.

Miranda and fellow driver Cristian Rodriguez, both of Springfield, planned to drive down to New Jersey, load up the masks and drive back. They didn't expect the wait, but stuck with the team.

Once the masks were loaded into his truck, Miranda said he realized it was going to be a long drive back to Western Massachusetts.

"I was a little nervous. I was told don't stop. Don't go to the bathroom. Don't go over the George Washington Bridge. Don't take (Interstate) 95," said Miranda, a 10-year employee of the company.

When he finally got to Western Massachusetts, Baystate officials were waiting at the warehouse with the doors open, welcoming him home.

"It was nerve-wracking," said Rodriguez.

The two were unescorted and both drove a roundabout route through upstate New York taking about five hours to get to the warehouse. Rodriguez, who has now worked at A-C Motor Express for four years, said it was worth it.

"When I got back I felt relieved and I felt helpful," he said.

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