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Berkshire Orthopeadic Associates Physician Profile, Meet Doctor Anthony DeFelice

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At first, Anthony DeFelice, DO, wanted to be a scientist. 
 
"I did biomedical research after college," he said. "And that was interesting, investigating the source of disease and the underlying problems. But I wanted to interact more with people so I did some volunteer work at a little community hospital where they stuck me in the operating room as an orderly. I got to watch them operate, and I said to myself, 'Now that I can do'."
 
Soon he had enrolled at the College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kansas City, Mo., where he earned his medical doctorate. Next, he spent a year as a general surgery resident at Berkshire Medical Center before going on to complete his residency in orthopaedic surgery at Michigan State University’s Ingham Regional Medical Center.
 
Dr. DeFelice prides himself on being a general orthopaedist. 
 
"I like doing everything," he says. "I enjoy taking care of everybody who comes in. Ours is almost like a family practice in orthopaedics – we do grandma, the baby, the sportsman, and everybody else in between – the whole package." 
 
Among the procedures he performs regularly are joint replacements, a range of arthroscopies, shoulder surgeries, anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions in knees, and complex fractures. 
 
In particular, Dr. DeFelice treats periaritcular fracture, in which the break is peripheral to the joint. 
 
Dr. DeFelice lives in Richmond with his wife, and they have four children. 
 
"I like to walk and hike. My kids and I fish, canoe, ski, and play all kinds of sports," he said. "I hunt, too – a lot of my patients are hunters and fishermen and they tell me the good spots." 




Tags: BHS,   BMC,   


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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