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BRTA On Verge of Work Stoppage

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority is on the verge of a work stoppage.
 
Drivers for Paratransit Management of the Berkshires have reportedly voted down the best and final offer during contract negotiations as well as called for a strike. The workers are represented by International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 404.
 
The BRTA, which oversees Paratransit, was informed of the vote but has yet to receive written notification regarding the details of the strike, according to BRTA Administrator Robert Malnati.
 
"At this time, BRTA has not received the written notification from the union regarding the strike. There remain many questions that would only be speculation if answers were provided now," Malnati said on Wednesday.
 
The 18 members in the union employed by Paratransit voted the strike on Tuesday night and apparently scheduled the work stoppage in 10 days. The union has not commented on the matter.
 
The strike will impact all aspects of the BRTA. The union had been working with a mediator to settle a contract and the "best and final offer" was delivered to the union on Jan. 26. The membership's vote had twice been postponed before Tuesday. 
 
"The fixed route (BTM) operators, mechanics, and maintenance staff are still working, but cannot cross picket lines," Malnati said.
 
The Intermodal Center will remain open and Peter Pan, Greyhound, and Amtrak will still stop in Pittsfield. The BRTA issued a notice of the impending stoppage on Tuesday.
 
"This action may also cause the BRTA bus service to cease operations and halt maintenance performed on BRTA vehicles," the notice reads.
 
The BRTA has an annual ridership of more than 600,000, with close to 80,000 of those through the paratransit service that supplements the fixed bus service for those with impaired mobility. 

Tags: BRTA,   strike,   

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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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