BMC Confirms Hirings, Medical Practice Relocations

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Berkshire Medical Center has provided an update on efforts to date in restoring emergency and medical services previously provided by the now defunct Northern Berkshire Healthcare.

Employment

As of today, Berkshire Medical Center has hired 143 former employees of North Adams Regional Hospital and NBH. This includes the physicians and other clinical support staff for the former NBH physician practices, VNA & Hospice of Northern Berkshire staff, physicians, nurses and staff for the planned Satellite Emergency Facility and other support services. Of these, 96 are permanent positions and 47 are temporary 90-day positions. Some of the temporary positions, depending on the ongoing needs of providing services and care in North Berkshire, may become permanent or extended beyond 90 days. Additionally, BMC has hired four former NARH/NBH employees to fill current open positions at the Medical Center.

Physician Practices

• Northern Berkshire OB/GYN will continue practicing in its existing location inside North Adams Regional Hospital the remainder of this week, and effective Monday, April 14, will reopen on the second floor of 2 Park St. next to the Adams Town Hall. Phone number remains the same.  
• Northern Berkshire Family Medicine will continue to practice in its existing location on State Road next to Harriman-West Airport. Phone number remains the same.
• Greylock Gastroenterology, Berkshire Hematology Oncology, Cardiology and Urology Services remain in practice in the Ambulatory Care Center on the grounds of North Adams Regional Hospital. The building is owned by a private entity not related to NARH and is unaffected by the NARH closure or bankruptcy.

Laboratory & Testing Services

Laboratory Blood Drawing Stations in North Berkshire have been set up in North Adams, Adams and Williamstown. They are located at:

• North Adams: Ambulatory Care Center, 77 Hospital Avenue, Berkshire Hematology Oncology office, open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays; this station will be relocated to another suite, also in the Ambulatory Care Center, in the near future, but a date has not been finalized for that move
• Adams: 19 Depot St., second floor of the Adams Internists building, also open 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays


• Williamstown: Williamstown Medical Associates continues to operate its blood drawing station at its Adams Road offices for its patients.
 

VNA & Hospice Care

Home care and hospice services continue uninterrupted in Northern Berkshire, with former employees of VNA & Hospice of Northern Berkshire hired as BMC employees, as both full-time and per diem staff. The per diem staff members are maintaining their previous work commitment at their request.

VNA & Hospice will be opening an office on the first floor of 26 Union St., North Adams, in the near future.   
 

Ecu-Health Care

Ecu Healthcare also will be relocating in the near future to 26 Union St. in North Adams. Berkshire Health Systems is providing financial support to Ecu-Health Care to aid in facilitating the move. Ecu-Health Care is not affiliated with Berkshire Health Systems and continues as an independent agency assisting Northern Berkshire residents with access to health coverage.
 

Care Line
BMC continues to maintain a toll-free Care Line for North Berkshire residents who have questions about accessing services, transportation or general health-care questions. That number is 855-262-5465.


Tags: doctors practice,   medical,   NARH,   NBH,   

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Mount Greylock School Committee Votes Slight Increase to Proposed Assessments

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to slightly increase the assessment to the district's member towns from the figures in the draft budget presented by the administration.
 
The School Committee opted to lower the use of Mount Greylock's reserve account by $70,000 and, instead, increase by that amount the share of the fiscal year 2025 operating budget shared proportionally by Lanesborough and Williamstown taxpayers.
 
The budget prepared by the administration and presented to the School Committee at its annual public hearing on Thursday included $665,000 from the district's Excess and Deficiency account, the equivalent of a municipal free cash balance, an accrual of lower-than-anticipated expenses and higher-than-anticipated revenue in any given year.
 
That represented a 90 percent jump from the $350,000 allocated from E&D for fiscal year 2024, which ends on June 30. And, coupled with more robust use of the district's tuition revenue account (7 percent more in FY25) and School Choice revenue (3 percent more), the draw down on E&D is seen as a stopgap measure to mitigate a spike in FY25 expenses and an unsustainable budgeting strategy long term, administrators say.
 
The budget passed by the School Committee on Thursday continues to rely more heavily on reserves than in years past, but to a lesser extent than originally proposed.
 
Specifically, the budget the panel approved includes a total assessment to Williamstown of $13,775,336 (including capital and operating costs) and a total assessment to Lanesborough of $6,425,373.
 
As a percentage increase from the FY24 assessments, that translates to a 3.90 percent increase to Williamstown and a 3.38 percent increase to Lanesborough.
 
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