BHS, BHCS Concludes Shared Services Agreement

03:23PM / Friday, December 10, 2021Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Health Systems (BHS) and Berkshire Healthcare Systems (BHCS) announced a structural reorganization between the two entities that will conclude a shared services management agreement between the two nonprofit organizations.

The two organizations, each with their own governing boards, recently concluded that BHCS has independent capabilities strong and comprehensive enough to no longer benefit from additional administrative support of a management services arrangement through a BHS affiliate known as BHS Management Services (BHSMS).

BHSMS allowed BHCS to share in the health system's administrative strengths and efficiencies.

"BHS and BHCS are proud of all we have jointly accomplished to provide high quality care to so many of our region's most vulnerable residents for more than 30 years," said David E. Phelps, President and CEO of BHS. "As our organizational relationship evolves, we are looking forward to focusing on specific clinical collaborations to effectively support the health and well-being of the communities we serve."

BHCS was established under BHS sponsorship in 1987, with the mission of providing high quality services to individuals needing short term rehabilitation and long-term care. BHCS operates a variety of skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities, assisted living facilities and other senior housing and hospice care services in Berkshire County as well as across Massachusetts.

"This transition will allow both entities to more closely focus on their respective missions and areas of expertise, working together when it will best serve the community," said Phelps. "For Berkshire Health Systems, that means delivering excellent clinical services to patients in Berkshire County across the full spectrum of care. Berkshire Healthcare Systems, in turn, will continue to provide outstanding long-term care to not only residents of Berkshire County in collaboration with BHS, but throughout the state."

BHS and BHCS have effectively partnered in numerous clinical areas from behavioral health to respiratory programs to antibiotic stewardship. For decades, the opportunities BHS and BHCS have pursued together have created an environment for long-term care, senior housing, and hospice and palliative care in Berkshire County.

"We will continue to strategically coordinate patient transitions and care opportunities between BHS and BHCS facilities in the Berkshires to ensure that everyone receives the best care possible," said William Jones, President of Berkshire Healthcare Systems. "We will also continue our close working relationships with the Berkshire community organizations and local governments that have been our faithful partners for decades."

To complete this transition, each BHCS staff member now employed by BHSMS will be offered the opportunity to continue in their current roles, although under an employment arrangement with a BHCS entity, effective Feb. 1, 2022.

Tags: BHS, BMC,

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

CDBG ADAMS HOUSING REHAB

Funded by a CDBG, the program supports eligible residents to make home repairs. Click for more info!

www.town.adams.ma.us

Quick Cash

Get help fast when you need it the most! Greylock Federal Credit Union. Insured by NCUA.

www.greylock.org

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Social Service Organizations Highlight Challenges, Successes at Poverty Talk

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
08:04AM / Sunday, April 05, 2026

Dr. Jennifer Michaels of the Brien Center demonstrates how to use Narcan. Easy access to the drug has cut overdose deaths in the county by nearly half.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Recent actions at the federal level are making it harder for people to climb out of poverty.

Brad Gordon, executive director of Upside413, said he felt like he was doing a disservice by not recognizing national challenges and how they draw a direct line from choices being made by the Trump administration and the challenges the United States is facing.

"They more generally impact people's ability to work their way out of poverty, and that's really, that's really the overarching dynamic," he said.

"Poverty is incredibly corrosive, and it impacts all the topics that we'll talk about today."

His comments came during a conversation on poverty hosted by Berkshire Community Action Council. Eight local service agency leaders detailed how they are supporting people during the current housing and affordability crisis, and the Berkshire state delegation spoke to their own efforts.

The event held on March 27 at the Berkshire Athenaeum included a working lunch and encouraged public feedback.

"All of this information that we're going to gather today from both you and the panelists is going to drive our next three-year strategic plan," explained Deborah Leonczyk, BCAC's executive director.

The conversation ranged from health care and housing production to financial literacy and child care. Participating agencies included Upside 413, The Brien Center, The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, MassHire Berkshire Career Center, Berkshire Regional Transit Authority, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Child Care of the Berkshires.

The federal choices Gordon spoke about included allocating $140 billion for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, investing $38 billion to convert warehouses into detention centers, cutting $1 trillion from Medicaid over 10 years, a proposed 50 percent increase in the defense budget, and cutting federal funding for supportive housing programs.

Gordon pointed to past comments about how the region can't build its way out of the housing crisis because of money. He withdrew that statement, explaining, "You know what? That's bullshit, actually."

"I'm going to be honest with you, that is absolute bullshit. I have just observed over the last year or so how we're spending our money and the amount of money that we're spending on the federal side, and I'm no longer saying in good conscience that we can't build our way out of this," he said.

Upside 413 provided a "Housing Demand in Western Massachusetts" report that was done in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's Donahue Institute of Economic and Public Policy Research. It states that around 23,400 units are needed to meet current housing demand in Western Mass; 1,900 in Berkshire County in 2025.

View Full Story