Letter: Barrett Has Proven Leadership
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To the Editor:
I have been labeled as passionate about the former North Adams Regional Hospital and the very unfortunate closure in March 2014.
What a gross understatement to say that I am. I was employed there for over 25 years of my nursing career. In essence I "grew up" there with so many of my peers (professional and non-professional) whose worlds were turned upside down with the abrupt closure.
Our children grew up together and now our grandchildren are enjoying the same. We were, continue to be, and always be the NARH Family!
And, it has been stated that the North Adams mayoral election has no bearing on the surrounding communities and that the lack of a full-service hospital in North Adams is a non-issue! Seriously?
Yes, BMC now owns the former hospital and can run their business as they see fit. As the current owners of the facilities, they can choose what services are returned that fit their model of care to the citizens of North Berkshire and surrounding communities in Southern Vermont. I applaud and support them for working diligently for their efforts.
That, however, is NOT relevant to the North Adam's mayoral election.
What is relevant is the lack of leadership, action, and involvement by our current mayor and other elected officials leading up to the abrupt closure of North Adams Regional hospital in 2014. Instead of championing the hospital and the approximate 500 employees by our current mayor (and other elected officials) at the time the NARH administration and Board of Trustees filed Chapter 11 in 2011 nothing was done until March 2014, when suddenly the former North Adams Regional Hospital became a major concern for the mayor and those other elected officials.
What is relevant is that our current mayor sat waiting for a phone call from the hospital administration and then proclaimed to be "shocked" at the tragic and abrupt announcement in March 2014 that the hospital would be closed in three days.
What is relevant is that our current mayor's campaign website does not once (as of this writing) mention NARH and the loss of 500 (+/-) jobs.
What is relevant is that there is not one mention of what the current mayor proposes regarding health-care services for the citizens he wants to lead many of whom are frail and elderly. He is willing to "wait and see" what services BMC will bring back to North Adams. He is willing to just accept the jobs that return to the former NARH campus. I wonder if he knows that many of those "hundreds of jobs" are per diem or part-time positions with no benefits. I wonder if he is aware of the many former employees and now traveling for employment in Vermont and New York or those who have moved from the area.
The scrambling and posturing I saw from our current mayor, and those other elected officials, as I sat at the first community meeting held to discuss the closure was mind boggling and frankly in my eyes pathetic. I recall looking across the room at John Barrett standing in the doorway shaking his head in disbelief. Would John Barrett have handled this differently? I believe he would have. Would the closure been averted under John Barrett? Perhaps not but at least he would have given it his all; he would not have sat idly by waiting to see what would happen.
I recall while sitting as the local chairperson for the MNA at NARH back in the mid-1990s, the RN's took a successful strike vote because of unsafe staffing issues and contract language we felt critical for safe patient care. Our motto was "Every Patient Deserves a Nurse." My co-chair, Mimi O'Brien, and I met with Mayor John Barrett who listened to our concerns and agreed to contact the then administrator.
Soon thereafter a settlement was reached, the contract was ratified and our proposed language was included. I was most impressed when I saw the picture of John Barrett at the first debate with Mr. Rudd and Mr. Alcombright holding one of our "Every Patient Deserves a Nurse" bumper stickers! John Barrett did not forget!
That all being said, Dick Alcombright might be a nice guy with a nice personality but, in my humble opinion, lacks the leadership ability to guide North Adams forward. He has had six years and based on the lack of leadership and his "wait and see" approach to NARH, he has failed and it is time to return to the proven leadership of John Barrett.
Jo Anne LaForest
North Adams
Tags: election 2015, letters to the editor, NorthAdamsElection,
