Pittsfield to Host Ballina Sister City Delegates

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Mayor Daniel Bianchi and the city of Pittsfield will celebrate all things Irish when they hosts visitors representing Pittsfield's Sister City, Ballina.  

The group is coming to Pittsfield to celebrate the relationship the two cities have under the Sister Cities International Program.  Bianchi and his wife, Theresa, will host a welcoming reception for the delegation on Friday, March 14, at noon in the City Council Chambers at City Hall.  

City councilors, former mayors and the public are invited to attend.

Among the events planned, guests and the Pittsfield Irish Sister City members will march in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Albany, N.Y.,  enjoy an Irish American Club dinner/dance at the Elk's Club and attend a "Forty Shades of Green Art Show" with a wine and cheese reception at the Lichtenstein Center.

There also will be a dinner show at Mazzeo's Ristorante with Liam Geddes, the 2007 "Irish Idol," performing after dinner.  The evening ends with Andy Kelly and his band performing at Patrick's Pub.

Here are highlights from last year's reception.
 

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North Adams Regional Reopens With Ribbon-Cutting Celebration

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

BHS President and CEO Darlene Rodowicz welcomes the gathering to the celebration of the hospital's reopening 10 years to the day it closed. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The joyful celebration on Thursday at North Adams Regional Hospital was a far cry from the scene 10 years ago when protests and tears marked the facility's closing
 
Hospital officials, local leaders, medical staff, residents and elected officials gathered under a tent on the campus to mark the efforts over the past decade to restore NARH and cut the ribbon officially reopening the 136-year-old medical center. 
 
"This hospital under previous ownership closed its doors. It was a day that was full of tears, anger and fear in the Northern Berkshire community about where and how residents would be able to receive what should be a fundamental right for everyone — access to health care," said Darlene Rodowicz, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems. 
 
"Today the historic opportunity to enhance the health and wellness of Northern Berkshire community is here. And we've been waiting for this moment for 10 years. It is the key to keeping in line with our strategic plan which is to increase access and support coordinated county wide system of care." 
 
Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, under the BHS umbrella, purchased the campus and affiliated systems when Northern Berkshire Healthcare declared bankruptcy and closed on March 28, 2014. NBH had been beset by falling admissions, reductions in Medicare and Medicaid payments, and investments that had gone sour leaving it more than $30 million in debt. 
 
BMC was able to reopen the ER as an emergency satellite facility and slowly restored and enhanced medical services including outpatient surgery, imaging, dialysis, pharmacy and physician services. 
 
But it would take a slight tweak in the U.S. Health and Human Services' regulations — thank to U.S. Rep. Richie Neal — to bring back inpatient beds and resurrect North Adams Regional Hospital 
 
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