CHP Adds Three Providers to Staff

Print Story | Email Story

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.

 


Tags: CHP,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Pittsfield Cleans Downtown Litter, Works on Outreach Program

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — As the city develops a peer support outreach program, workers are clearing the downtown of potentially hazardous litter from the wintertime. 

Over the past three weeks, the Health Department has sent out inspectors to assess sanitary conditions in the downtown, beginning on North Street, moving to First Street, and to the McKay Street parking garage. 

"We've identified a lot of needles, and mostly needle caps and then small drug paraphernalia, and while we're identifying them, we're noting where we're finding them, and we're also picking them up and disposing of them properly," Director of Public Health Andy Cambi said. 

"… We have not found any human waste sanitation issues currently, again, not to say that there isn't any, but I think it also speaks to the fact that we do have a new facility that's open, that's being run, The First, which does offer bathroom facilities, laundry facilities." 

On Monday, he updated the Public Health and Safety subcommittee on the progress of the upcoming peer support outreach program and cleanup efforts in the area it will serve. 

The First housing resource center opened in February in the basement of the Zion Lutheran Church with bathrooms, lounge spaces, lockers, and more. In its early days, it averaged about 50 visitors daily; on Sundays, an average of 70 visitors. 

Cambi said he is in constant communication with ServiceNet, which is operating The First. 

"It has been used heavily, so I think that speaks to the relief of issues that we're seeing in the downtown area in regards to those sanitation issues," he added.

"It's a great resource that's available that is being constantly used, so again, what it was intended for."

When the department comes across human waste, they will connect with Department of Public Works staff to have it cleaned and sanitized.  Workers can make a clear distinction between pet and human waste, Cambi reported. 

View Full Story

More Great Barrington Stories