Adams Student Takes Top Poster Prize

By Susan BushPrint Story | Email Story
Adams – Nellie McLear’s “Hunt for Home Hazards” poster contest entry captured a $200 first place award and will be entered in a state-wide first-place winner competition luncheon scheduled for June 6 at the Sheraton Framingham in Framingham, Mass.. Nellie and her parents William and Lynn McLear plan to travel to Framingham for the event, Nellie said during an April 27 interview. “We’re pretty excited about it,” the 14-year-old Adams Memorial Middle School eighth-grade student said. The poster contest was open to middle school students throughout Berkshire County and was part of an Arson Watch Reward initiative sponsored by the Property and Casualty Insurance Companies of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association. North Adams firefighter David Simon served as the Northern Berkshire contest coordinator. Students at the Clarksburg Elementary School and the Gabriel Abbott Memorial School in Florida participated in the contest. Nellie’s poster illustrated a host of home hazards. “I drew all kinds of home hazards, like electric sockets and bathtubs,” she said. Nellie is a pupil of Life Skills teacher Terry Vivori. Vivori delivered the news of the win. “I was real happy,” Nellie said. “She’s a very good student and we are proud of her,” Vivori said. The poster that captures top honors at the state competition may be featured as a State Fire Marshall’s Annual Report cover and also earn a place on a 2006 fire safety calendar, according to information provided by Simon. The Northern Berkshires were also represented at the second-place level. Angela Liporace, a seventh-grade Clarksburg Elementary School student, won a $100 second place award for her poster. She described the poster theme during an April 26 interview. “My poster was about the importance of having a smoke detector in the house,” Angela said. “You never know when you are going to need it.” Angela said she was “really happy” when school art teacher Julianne Jock told her that her artistic efforts had earned an award. Both girls downplayed their talents. “I like to draw and I draw sometimes but I don’t really think I’m an artist,” said Angela. “I like drawing, but I’m not really a good artist,” said Nellie. Susan Bush may be reached at 802-823-9367 or by e-mail at suebush123@adelphia.net.
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North Adams Regional Reopens With Ribbon-Cutting Celebration

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

BHS President and CEO Darlene Rodowicz welcomes the gathering to the celebration of the hospital's reopening 10 years to the day it closed. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The joyful celebration on Thursday at North Adams Regional Hospital was a far cry from the scene 10 years ago when protests and tears marked the facility's closing
 
Hospital officials, local leaders, medical staff, residents and elected officials gathered under a tent on the campus to mark the efforts over the past decade to restore NARH and cut the ribbon officially reopening the 136-year-old medical center. 
 
"This hospital under previous ownership closed its doors. It was a day that was full of tears, anger and fear in the Northern Berkshire community about where and how residents would be able to receive what should be a fundamental right for everyone — access to health care," said Darlene Rodowicz, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems. 
 
"Today the historic opportunity to enhance the health and wellness of Northern Berkshire community is here. And we've been waiting for this moment for 10 years. It is the key to keeping in line with our strategic plan which is to increase access and support coordinated county wide system of care." 
 
Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, under the BHS umbrella, purchased the campus and affiliated systems when Northern Berkshire Healthcare declared bankruptcy and closed on March 28, 2014. NBH had been beset by falling admissions, reductions in Medicare and Medicaid payments, and investments that had gone sour leaving it more than $30 million in debt. 
 
BMC was able to reopen the ER as an emergency satellite facility and slowly restored and enhanced medical services including outpatient surgery, imaging, dialysis, pharmacy and physician services. 
 
But it would take a slight tweak in the U.S. Health and Human Services' regulations — thank to U.S. Rep. Richie Neal — to bring back inpatient beds and resurrect North Adams Regional Hospital 
 
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