CHP Adds Three Providers to Staff

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Community Health Programs has added three new health care providers to its medical and dental ​network in the Berkshires.

Dr. Claire Horth, a family medicine physician, has joined the primary care team at CHP Community Health Center in Great Barrington. A graduate of UMass School of Medicine in Worcester, she completed her residency through Brown University at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island; she earned her undergraduate degree with honors at Notre Dame University. She has a particular interest in preventive medicine, adolescent and women's health.

Gina Nickels-Nelson, family nurse practitioner, has joined the primary care team at CHP Berkshire Pediatrics in Pittsfield. She earned her M.S. in nursing at the University of Rochester after completing her undergraduate nursing degree from Northern Michigan University. She has specialized in pediatric urgent care and wellness care, and is currently completing her doctor of nursing practice degree at the University of Texas at Tyler. Her
studies are focus​ed on improving adolescent asthmatic health outcomes.

Dr. Elwira Tyra has joined the dental staff at CHP Neighborhood Dental Center in Pittsfield. She graduated from Poznan University of Medical Sciences in Poznan, Poland, where she received her doctor of Dental Surgery degree, followed by a dental residency program at Collegium Stomatologicum in Poznan. She then moved back to the United States and completed her general practice dental residency at CHP through Berkshire Medical Center's residency program. A resident of Connecticut, where she attended the University of Connecticut, she is fluent in English and Polish. She has a long history of giving back to her community through volunteer activities and is committed to providing quality care for all her patients.

Dalton Resident Ranks Third in National Snocross Race

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
06:18PM / Sunday, December 21, 2025

Sal LeBeau on his machine with his sister, Kenna, in the black hat, and friend Brandon and his sister Alea.

DALTON, Mass. — At just 16 years old, Salvatore LaBeau is already making avalanches in the national snocross racing scene.

 

Last weekend, LaBeau raced in the Mount Zion Snocross National race in Ironwood, Mich., the first of eight races in the national circuit series. 

 

Competitions take place across national circuits, attracting racers from various regions and even internationally. 

 

Labeau rides for CT Motorsports, a team based in Upstate New York, on a 2025 Polaris 600R. 

 

This is LaBeau's first time competing on the CT Motorsports team. Years prior, he raced for a team owned by Bruce Gaspardi, owner of South Side Sales and Service in North Adams.  

 

Despite a bad first day on Friday when he fell off his snowmobile and didn't make the final, LaBeau carried on with confidence and on Saturday obtained his first national podium, placing in third for the Sport Lite class. 

 

"I'm feeling good. I'm gonna start training more when I come home, and go to the gym more. And I am really excited, because I'm in 11th right now," the Wahconah High student said.