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Kirby Lecy photographs new Coalition staff member Perri Bernstein with her vision for rural health.
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Bert Lamb from the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition and Kirby Lecy from the Massachusetts Office of Rural Health photograph Angelica Paredes from the state 4H Youth Development Program sharing her vision for rural health.

Residents Share Visions of Rural Health to Mark National Rural Health Day

By Rebecca DravisiBerkshires Staff
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — What is your vision for rural health in Massachusetts?

The Massachusetts Office of Rural Health is looking to find out from residents from all across the state, from the tip of Cape Cod to North Adams, where Kirby Lecy, the office's outreach and communications coordinator, visited last week in advance of National Rural Health Day this Thursday, Nov. 19.

Lecy visited the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition monthly forum on Friday to share that the National Organization of State Offices of Rural sets aside the third Thursday of every November  to celebrate National Rural Health Day. According to its website, "National Rural Health Day is an opportunity to 'Celebrate the Power of Rural' by honoring the selfless, community-minded, 'can do' spirit of that prevails in rural America. But it also gives us a chance to bring to light the unique healthcare challenges that rural citizens face – and showcase the efforts of rural healthcare providers, State Offices of Rural Health and other rural stakeholders to address those challenges."

The day will be marked nationally this year with a series of webinars, but locally, Lecy sought out local residents at the forum to share their visions by posing for pictures with a sign stating "My Vision for Rural Health in Massachusetts is..." with room for participants to write their thoughts underneath. Lecy said that through visits to forums around the state like the NBCC one she will develop a library of thoughts, so to speak, to be shared on social media and beyond, with the Twitter hashtags #‎powerofrural‬ and ‪#‎powerofruralma‬.

"We're hoping to use them more than just (this) week," she said. "We'll have this great collection of pictures of people who filled out signs."



On Friday in North Adams, some of the visions were "plenty of programs for disabilities, for all ages and all levels"; "LGBTQ-competent health care"; "'adult' playgrounds for seniors"; "all youth are involved in something bigger than themselves" and "a safe community where all children can thrive."

According to the website, approximately 62 million people – nearly one in five Americans – live in rural and frontier areas. While nearly 85 percent of U.S. residents can reach a Level I or Level II trauma center within an hour, only 24 percent of residents living in rural areas can do so within that time frame – this despite the fact that 60 percent of all trauma deaths in the United States occur in rural areas.

But health is more than just health care services, according to Lecy and the speakers who participated in the main part of Friday's forum, which focused on the health needs of the northern Berkshires. Lecy said her office advocates for rural health on a national level, especially politically, and that's why they wanted to hear what people had to say about the health needs of the community beyond just medical care.

"Understanding health is much more than your hospitals," she said.


Tags: health,   health care,   NBCC,   

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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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