Provider Profile – Suzanne Childs, BHS Occupational Therapist

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Across the country, there are nearly 135,000 Occupational Therapists, and Suzanne Childs, who provides this specialized care at the Center for Rehabilitation at BMC, says OT goes beyond helping someone regain their functions for work.
 
"We promote functional independence for people and help restore not only vocational skills, but also homemaking and daily living skills," said Childs. "Occupational Therapy covers the full range of activities people of all ages do to live functional, meaningful lives."
 
Suzanne has been with BMC since 1994 and has served as an Occupational Therapist in the Berkshires for nearly 30 years, most of that time in the outpatient setting. She came to the Berkshires after providing OT services in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and later New York state.
 
"Occupational Therapists often work together with Physical Therapists, but our roles are quite unique. PT focuses on improving the patient's ability to move their body, whereas I concentrate on improving my patient's ability to perform activities of daily living. We help our patients to do things beyond their PT care, such as brushing their teeth, getting dressed, making meals and all of their other everyday tasks that may have been impeded by an illness or injury."
 
Suzanne is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and completed her clinical education at Toledo Mental Health in Ohio and Magee Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia. Over the years, she has provided care for spinal cord injury, stroke, post-acute rehabilitation for children and young adults and general rehabilitation.
 
If you need Occupational Therapy or any kind of rehabilitative care, ask your primary care provider for a referral or call the Center for Rehabilitation at BMC at 413-447-2234.




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Pittsfield Council Takes Up $243M Fiscal 2027 Budget

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Mayor Peter Marchetti detailed the city's $243 million spending plan during the first budget hearing of the season on Tuesday. 

The proposed operating budget for Pittsfield in fiscal year 2027 is $232,782,090, a 2.9 percent increase from this year. Marchetti compared that to hikes in fixed costs: a 9 percent increase in health insurance, a 7 percent increase in debt service, and more than a 5 percent increase in retirement contributions. 

"We needed to make reductions in other places," he explained. 

The total proposed budget is $243,234,868. It breaks down into $145,927,029 for the municipal operating budget, $86,855,061 for the schools, and $10,452,778 for proposed state assessments and overlay. 

To balance the budget, the administration will not fill several vacant positions, is funding police social workers and co-responders through opioid settlement funds, and reduces the library's Thursday hours. 

"Probably one of our most painful cuts that we have produced: The overall [Department of Public Services] budget has been reduced by $738,000 from fiscal year 26 to 27, with a reduction of five positions that are currently vacant, have been vacant for some time, and we believe the reason that those positions are vacant is based on our salaries," Marchetti explained. 

"So once we are able to successfully negotiate a contract with the teamsters, we will be back looking to be able to fund these positions from a later appropriation. It is not our intent to let them go vacant all year, but it's impossible to budget when we know we can't fill them, and we don't know what salary at this current stage to use." 

The budget includes $2 million in free cash to offset the tax rate, $19,791,219 from water & sewer enterprise funds, $81,959,322 from state aid ($68,855,061 in Chapter 70 School Aid), and $15,388,750 in local receipts. 

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