Berkshire Health Systems Investing $6M in North County

BHS is investing $6 million to expand services at BMC North.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Berkshire Health Systems will invest $6 million in Northern Berkshire in the coming months.

The significant investment will mean the expansion of outpatient and imaging services, as well as upgrades to the technology at the BMC North campus.

The funds were approved in the capital budget by the Berkshire Health Systems Board of Trustees in October and includes infrastructure improvements, building renovations, expanded services and equipment purchases.  

"This is the next phase in Berkshire Health Systems' ongoing commitment to provide enhanced health-care services to the Northern Berkshire community," said David Phelps, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems, in a statement. "This represents a major commitment in providing expanded and sustainable care, close to home for Northern Berkshire residents."

Residents in North County have been closely watching for BHS' plans for the former North Adams Regional Hospital campus. The former Northern Berkshire Healthcare declared bankruptcy in March and abruptly closed the hospital, leaving a health-care vacuum in the region.

Berkshire Medical Center, part of BHS, purchased the campus and the Northern Berkshire Family Practice building for $4 million in August. It had already reopened the emergency room and some imaging services in cooperation with the state and U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and took over operations of the visiting nurse association and the family practice.

The expanded services will include mammography, for which BMC had been awaiting federal approval to resume.

MCLA Graduates Told to Make the World Worthy of Them

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
05:27PM / Saturday, May 16, 2026

Keynote speaker Michael Bobbitt was awarded an honorary doctor of fine arts. He told the graduates to make the world worthy of them. See more photos here.  

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Amsler Campus Center gym erupted in cheers on Saturday as 193 members of class of 2026 turned their tassels.

 

The graduates of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' 127th commencement were sent off with the charge of "don't stop now" to make the world a better place.  

 

You are Trailblazers, keynote speaker Michael Bobbitt reminded them, and a "trailblazer is not simply someone who walks a path. A trailblazer makes one, but blazing a trail does not happen alone. Every trailblazer is carrying tools made by somebody else. Every trailblazer is guided by stars they did not create. Every trailblazer stands on grounds shaped by ancestors, teachers, workers, neighbors, friends, and strangers."

 

Trailblazing takes communal courage, he said, and they needed to love people, build with people, argue with people, and find the people who make them braver and kinder at the same time.

 

"The future will not be saved by isolated geniuses, it will be saved by networks of people willing to practice courage together. The future belongs not to the loudest, not to the richest, not to the most certain, but to the most adaptive, the most creative, the most courageous, the most willing to learn."

 

Bobbitt was recently named CEO of Opera American after nearly five years leading the Massachusetts Cultural Council. He stressed the importance of art to the graduates, and noted that opera is not the only art form facing challenges in this world. 

 

"Every field is asking, who are we for now? What do we, what value do we create?" he said. "What do we stop pretending is fine. This is not just an arts question, that is a healthcare question, a climate question, a technology question, a community question, a higher education question, a democracy question, a life question. ...