Berkshire Medical Center's Weight Loss Surgery Program Achieves National Accreditation

09:47AM / Wednesday, August 22, 2007Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD - The bariatric surgery program at Berkshire Medical Center has achieved national accreditation by the Bariatric Surgery Center Network of the American College of Surgeons. Established in 2005 by the ACS in an effort to extend established quality improvement practices to all disciplines of surgical care, the ACS BSCN Accreditation Program provides confirmation that a bariatric surgery program like BMC's has demonstrated its commitment to providing the highest quality care for its bariatric surgery patients. Accredited programs provide not only the hospital resources necessary for optimal care of morbidly obese patients, but also the support and resources that are necessary to address the entire spectrum of care and needs of bariatric patients, from the pre-hospital phase through the post operative care and treatment process. "This is a tremendous achievement for the medical center's weight loss surgery program," said Helen Downey, a registered nurse and chief operating officer of BMC. "The physicians, nurses and staff of our bariatric program have worked very hard to provide a program of the highest quality for our patients in the community who require bariatric surgery to greatly improve their health. Many of those who have had this procedure no longer require medications for the control of diabetes and hypertension." Dr. Andrew Lederman is the medical director of bariatric surgery. The program is coordinated by Lederman and Dr. Robert Fanelli of Surgical Specialists of Western New England, and Jodi Szczepaniak, a registered nurse and clinical nurse specialist and coordinator for bariatric surgical services at BMC. The comprehensive bariatric program at BMC provides gastric bypass and lap-band procedures. Each hospital surveyed by the American College of Surgeons undergoes an on-site verification by experienced bariatric surgeons, who review the hospital's structure, process and quality of data. Because high-quality surgical care requires documentation using reliable measurements of outcomes, accredited bariatric surgery programs are required to report their outcomes data either to the ACS National Surgical Quality Improvement Program or the college's BSCN database. In the United States, more than 11 million people suffer from severe obesity, and the numbers continue to increase. Obesity increases the risks of morbidity and mortality because of the diseases and conditions that are commonly associated with it, such as type II diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease, among other health risks. Currently, weight loss surgery provides the only effective, lasting relief from severe obesity. According to the ACS, it is "of utmost importance to extend our quality initiatives to accrediting bariatric surgery programs so that we can assist the public in identifying those facilities that provide optimal surgical care for patients who undergo this surgical procedure."

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New Camp Is Safe Place for Children Suffering Loss to Addiction

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
06:26AM / Saturday, December 27, 2025

Last year's Happy Campers courtesy of Max Tabakin.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A new camp is offering a safe place for children who have lost a parent or guardian to addiction.

Director Gayle Saks founded the nonprofit "Camp Happy Place" last year. The first camp was held in June with 14 children.

Saks is a licensed drug and alcohol counselor who works at the Brien Center. One of her final projects when studying was how to involve youth, and a camp came to mind. Camp had been her "happy place" growing up, and it became her dream to open her own.

"I keep a bucket list in my wallet, and it's right on here on this list, and I cross off things that I've accomplished," she said. "But it is the one thing on here that I knew I had to do."

The overnight co-ed camp is held at a summer camp in Winsted, Conn., where Saks spent her summers as a child. It is four nights and five days and completely free. Transportation is included as are many of the items needed for camping. The camp takes up to 30 children.

"I really don't think there's any place that exists specifically for this population. I think it's important to know, we've said this, but that it is not a therapeutic camp," Saks said.

She said the focus is on fun for the children, though they are able to talk to any of the volunteer and trained staff. The staff all have experience in social work, addiction and counseling, and working with children.

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