Berkshire Health Systems Opens Williamstown Walk-In Clinic
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Since sick days are not scheduled and not all illnesses are emergencies, Berkshire Health Systems has opened its second walk-in care facility, this one in Williamstown.
North County BHS Walk-In Care is for patients ages 2 and up who are not able to be seen by their primary-care physician but whose condition is not so urgent that they need to visit an emergency room.
The facility opened on Monday and follows the model of BHS' walk-in facility at Pittsfield's Market 32 (the former Price Chopper) in Berkshire Crossing.
"It's worked well," said Dr. Ronald Hayden, head of the Berkshire Medical Center Emergency Department. "We've mirrored [the Williamstown office] after the facility we opened in Pittsfield in April. It's the same type of limited lab testing, protocols and procedures."
A shortage of primary-care physicians in Berkshire County makes it difficult for some patients to receive same-day appointments. The walk-in centers offer low-cost alternatives to ER visits — often the only way patients can see a doctor without waiting several days for an appointment.
The walk-in centers are staffed by nurse practitioners, just like the medical professionals many people see in their doctor's offices on a regular basis.
"From the feedback we've gotten, people are very comfortable seeing nurse practitioners," Hayden said. "We're using family nurse practitioners so they're familiar with children and kids and adolescents as well as adults.
"We've certainly seen that trend of more and more physicians assistants and nurse practitioners staffing family offices."
The North County BHS Walk-In Care facility is staffed by Sarah Kangas, a registered nurse who has a doctorate in nursing practice with a family practice specialty from the University of Massachusetts.
Hayden said the walk-in centers are well equipped to deal with colds and flu, strep throat, earaches, pink eye or any number of ailments that do not require a trip to the emergency room.
In general, patients have been good at "self selecting" when they need the ER versus a more routine office visit. He could only think of one time since April that a visitor to the Pittsfield facility was immediately referred to the hospital.
"If there is something beyond their scope of care, that discussion would be had with the patient who would then be referred to the Emergency Department for evaluation or at least for some sort of immediate followup with the primary care physician," Hayden said.
"The status of emergency medicine is we are a failsafe for the community," he said. "When anything else fails, we're there. We'll maintain that disposition.
"Hopefully ... we'll have resources who can further attend the people who have been waiting that much longer to be seen. In the long run, I think the primary people who access the walk-in facility and the people who need to go to the Emergency Department will see a little more attention."
North County BHS Walk-In Care offers a number of payment options, including self-pay, and accepts insurance payments from plans that contract with BHS. The facility at 197 Adams Road, Williamstown, will be open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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