Two Appointed Department Chairs at Berkshire Medical Center

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Health Systems announces the appointments of Dr. Marcella Bradway as chair of the Department of Surgery and Dr. Jessica Krochmal as chair of the Department of Pathology at Berkshire Medical Center, extending its history of equity in leadership. 

Dr. Bradway is the first female chair of Surgery and previously served as interim chair of Surgery for half of 2016 and throughout all of 2018, and was vice chair for five years. Dr. Krochmal is the second woman to serve as chair of Pathology, and she previously served as vice chair from 2016 to 2018. 

"Berkshire Medical Center has a remarkable medical staff, and its foundation is a physician leadership team that is highly diverse and exceptionally skilled, with a deep commitment to continually providing the best care for our community," said David Phelps, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems. "Drs. Bradway and Krochmal are widely admired by their colleagues on the medical staff, nursing, those working in the many areas of the hospital they interact with daily, and the many thousands of patients who rely on their expertise and compassionate care. We are proud to have them leading our Surgery and Pathology departments."

At BMC, 40 percent of medical staff departments are led by female physicians, with Bradway and Krochmal joining Dr. Lisa Loring, chair of Radiology, in leadership positions. The hospital’s medical staff, which includes more than 400 physicians, has a considerable corps of female physicians.

Bradway was born and raised in Pittsfield and is board-certified in general and colon and rectal Surgery. She returned to the Berkshires in 2008 following an impressive career in Connecticut, where she had served as chair of the Department of Surgery at Griffin Hospital and with a highly respected surgical practice serving Fairfield County. She was fellowship-trained in colon and rectal Surgery at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, and is board certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery. She received her medical degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and completed her residency training in General Surgery at the University of Connecticut Integrated Surgical Residency program, which included Hartford Hospital, St. Francis Hospital, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, New Britain General Hospital and John Dempsey Hospital.

Krochmal came to the Berkshires in 2008 and is board-certified in anatomic and clinical pathology and cytopathology. She received her medical degree from the University of Iowa College of Medicine and completed dual fellowships, in surgical pathology and cytopathology, from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. She completed her residency in pathology at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. She leads the pathology and laboratory services provided at both Berkshire Medical Center and Fairview Hospital.


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Toys for Tots Bringing Presents to Thousands of Kids This Year

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

Volunteers organize toys by age and gender in the House of Corrections storage facility. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Plenty of toys are on their way to children this holiday season thanks to Toys for Tots.

Christopher Keegan has coordinated the local toy drive for the Berkshire Chapter of the Marine Corps Reserve since 2015 and said he has seen the need rise every year, last year helping more than 6,000 kids.

"This is 11 years I've been doing it, and the need has gone up every year. It's gone up every year, and I anticipate it going up even more this year," Keegan said.

On Thursday, the Berkshire County House of Corrections storage facility was overflowing with toys making it the county's very own Santa's workshop. 

Keegan said Berkshire County always shows up with toys or donations. 

"This county is outstanding when it comes to charity. They rally around stuff. They're very giving, they're very generous, and they've been tremendous in this effort, the toys for pride effort, since I've been doing it, our goal is to honor every request, and we've always reached that goal," he said.

Keegan's team is about 20 to 25 volunteers who sort out toys based on age and gender. This week, the crew started collecting from the 230 or so boxes set out around the county on Oct. 1.

"The two age groups that are probably more difficult — there's a newborn to 2s, boys and girls, and 11 to 14, boys and girls. Those are the two challenging ages where we need to focus our attention on a little bit more," he said.

Toys For Tots has about 30 participating schools and agencies that sign up families and individuals who need help putting gifts under the tree. Keegan takes requests right up until the last minute on Christmas.

"We can go out shopping for Christmas. I had sent my daughter out Christmas Eve morning. Hey, we need X amount of toys and stuff, but the requests are still rolling in from individuals, and I don't say no, we'll make it work however we can," he said.

Community members help to raise money or bring in unopened and unused toys. Capeless Elementary student Thomas St. John recently raised $1,000 selling hot chocolate and used the money to buy toys for the drive.

"It's amazing how much it's grown and how broad it is, how many people who were involved," Keegan said.

On Saturday, Live 95.9 personalities Bryan Slater and Marjo Catalano of "Slater and Marjo in the Morning" will host a Toys for Tots challenge at The Hot Dog Ranch and Proprietor's Lodge. Keegan said they have been very supportive of the drive and that they were able to collect more than 3,000 toys for the drive last year.

Volunteer Debbie Melle has been volunteering with Toys for Tots in the county for about five years and said people really showed up to give this year.

"I absolutely love it. It's what we always say. It's organized chaos, but it's rewarding. And what I actually this year, I'm so surprised, because the amount that the community has given us, and you can see that when you see these pictures, that you've taken, this is probably the most toys we've ever gotten," she said. "So I don't know if people just feel like this is a time to give and they're just going above and beyond, but I'm blown away. This year we can barely walk down the aisles for how much, how many toys are here. It's wonderful."

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