BHS Partners with Local Libraries to Explore Personal Choices And Palliative Care

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Berkshire Health Systems (BHS) will partner with local libraries to launch a community conversation on palliative care, centered on book discussions of "Being Mortal" by Atul Gawande.

Written by a practicing surgeon, the bestseller bridges clinical care and lived experience, making it accessible to readers with no medical background, while resonating with the palliative care team leading the conversations. 

This community-based reading event is being offered as part of BHS's new Palliative Care program, a pilot initiative designed to expand this care across the Berkshires through widespread provider education, community awareness, and clinical expertise.

The program, which is funded in part through the support of donors to BHS's Healthier Together Campaign, is led by Dr. Christopher Clark, Nurse Practitioner Sophia Veinoglou, and Tony Scibelli, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington.  

Participating libraries will lend copies beginning in October, in accessible formats. Each discussion will be co-led by a librarian and a member of BHS's Palliative Care Program team, a pairing that reflects the program itself: expert care meeting everyday community life. The Mason Library in Great Barrington will also host a film about the writing of the book. Note that attendees do not need to have read the book in order to participate in the group discussions.

"These conversations aren't about medical jargon or difficult diagnoses," said Chris Clark, MD, Project Lead for the Palliative Care Program. "They're about what a good quality of life looks like, for as long as life lasts, and how families can walk that road together with more clarity and less fear. Being Mortal gives our community a shared starting point for a conversation that can otherwise feel too big, or too painful, to begin alone." 

According to a press release:

Palliative care is often mistaken for giving up. In truth, it is about living as fully as possible, on one's own terms. By bringing the program into libraries rather than keeping it within hospital walls, the team hopes to build a culture across the Berkshires where conversations about aging and serious illness are welcomed, not avoided, long before a crisis requires them. 

"This book read is just the beginning," said Tony Scibelli, Fairview Hospital COO/BHS Vice President. "It's a small, human-scale way of saying that our medical community is here not only to treat illness, but to walk alongside patients and families through some of life's hardest moments. We hope our community will pick up a book, join a discussion, and help us build a Berkshire County where growing older, and facing illness with dignity, is met with knowledge, compassion, and support."

Participating libraries and discussion dates are as follows:

• Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 1:30 pm at the Becket Washington Atheneum
• Friday, Nov. 6 at 4 pm at the Great Barrington Mason Library
• Thursday, Nov. 19 at 3 pm at the Stockbridge Library
• Saturday, Nov. 21 at 7 pm at the Monterey Library
• Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 4 pm Bushnell Sage Library, Sheffield
• Saturday, Dec. 5 at 10 am at the New Marlborough Library

Contact each library to request a book, RSVP, or learn more. 

To support the BHS palliative care program and the Healthier Together Campaign, visit www.healthiertogethercampaign.org.