Updated September 18, 2014 03:41PM

North County Health Needs Report Advises ER, Outpatient Services

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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Updated with statements from BMC and Massachusetts Nurses Association.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A 102-page report on the health needs of Northern Berkshire released Thursday recommends keeping emergency care in North Adams and expanding on primary care.

What it's not advising is the restoration of a full-service hospital, but rather limited inpatient service and then only if what is now a satellite emergency facility under Berkshire Medical Center can obtain federal designation as a Critical Access Hospital.

The report by Stroudwater Associates was commissioned by the Department of Public Health in the wake of the abrupt closure of North Adams Regional Hospital in March.

The report will be discussed at two public meetings next week at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' Church Street Center: Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 5:30 p.m. and on Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 9:30 a.m.

"This study is intended to provide sound information and data to the region and members of the community who are looking to improve community health and address the population’s needs," said Stroudwater Associates Director Brian Haapala in a statement. "Community engagement has been important throughout this process, and we look forward to continuing this in the meetings in the region next week."

The independent consulting firm spoke with more than 100 stakeholders during the development of the report, including a public meeting in July.

"I feel very, very hopeful. It substantiated the fact there's still a need ... there is a population that is in a sense underserved," said Mayor Richard Alcombright, who reviewed the report Wednesday with Health and Human Services Secretary John Polanowicz, state Sen. Benjamin B. Downing and state Rep. Gailanne Cariddi.

Alcombright said he had not had a chance to "fully digest" the report but his takeaway was that a critical access facility could be sustained in North County, and the beyond that, there would be a continuation and building on services that are currently being offered.

"We hope this study will help state and local partners plan for a health care system that meets the long-term needs of residents," said Polanowicz in a statement on the report's release.

The results, however, may not be what many in the region were hoping to hear: Residents have been advocating for the hospital to be reopened as a full-service facility, possibly similar to Berkshire Health Systems' 20-bed Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington. But that probably won't happen without federal critical access, a designation NARH pursued in the past but was unable to obtain.


BMC took over emergency operations at the former North Adams hospital and has been providing laboratory and diagnostic imaging services. It closed on the former Northern Berkshire Healthcare properties in August for $4 million as the only bidder for the bankrupt health system. BMC officials have said they would wait for the recommendations from the Stroudwater report before initiating any further plans for the facility.

BMC officials said they look forward to next week's community discussions.

"The report is lengthy and contains a great deal of information, and we will be reviewing the findings and recommendations in the weeks ahead as we continue to establish or re-establish health-care services in Northern Berkshire through Berkshire Medical Center or in partnership with other agencies and organizations," officials said in a statement provided by BMC spokesman Michael Leary. "We recognize the importance of providing access to health-care services for the North Berkshire community, and have taken many steps over the past several months to ensure expanded local access to many services, including 24-hour emergency care, primary care and obstetrics/gynecology, outpatient imaging, home care and hospice care, diabetes and endocrinology, and laboratory services."

The former 100-bed hospital served a population in Northern Berkshire and Southern Vermont of about 37,000 with an emergency department, surgical suites, maternity and other health-related services.

The report describes the residents of Northern Berkshire as "a vulnerable population for healthcare services." The population is older and has higher incidences of asthma, cancer and heart disease than the state average and in "poor general health."

Stroudwater recommends the "North Adams region develop a shared vision of improving the community's health status by aligning medical services available to the community with social services and other community assets in support of health status improvement."

Health and wellness should include outreach and outpatient services, disease management and accessible prenatal care and education.

"This could be something that could takes months or years to bring back to the level it is now," said Alcombright. That could include working in conjunction with BMC or developing a more piecemeal approach for the long term. "We probably can sustain a medical facility that will serve us."

The Massachusetts Nurses Association, which has been working with representatives from 1199SEIU and community partners to keep pressure on state and local officials to expand services, said the report "misses the mark" by tying financial feasibility to service restoration — specifically critical access and its higher reimbursement rates.

In a statement, union officials said they are supportive of the achieving critical access but adds that "the community has a demonstrated the need for a full service hospital" and noted the report confirmed the health and transportation issues facing North County residents: 

"We cannot allow state and local public officials, Berkshire Medical Center and the health care system in our state to ignore the needs and refuse services to the residents of Northern Berkshire County simply because they live in an economically disadvantaged and isolated region."


Tags: BMC,   health & wellness,   health care,   medical,   NARH,   NBH,   

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Macksey Updates on Eagle Street Demo and Myriad City Projects

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

The back of Moderne Studio in late January. The mayor said the city had begun planning for its removal if the owner could not address the problems. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Moderne Studio building is coming down brick by brick on Eagle Street on the city's dime. 
 
Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather. 
 
The city had been making plans for the demolition a month ago because of the deterioration of the building, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday. The project was accelerated after the back of the 150-year-old structure collapsed on March 5
 
Initial estimates for demolition had been $190,000 to $210,000 and included asbestos removal. Those concerns have since been set aside after testing and the mayor believes that the demolition will be lower because it is not a hazardous site.
 
"We also had a lot of contractors who came to look at it for us to not want to touch it because of the proximity to the next building," she said. "Unfortunately time ran out on that property and we did have the building failure. 
 
"And it's an unfortunate situation. I think most of us who have lived here our whole lives and had our pictures taken there and remember being in the window so, you know, we were really hoping the building could be safe."
 
Macksey said the city had tried working with the owner, who could not find a contractor to demolish the building, "so we found one for him."
 
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