Lanesborough Health Board Investigating Complaints at Physical Therapy Office
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Board of Health on Tuesday discussed several complaints it recently received about a lack of mask-wearing at Greylock Physical Therapy.
Board member and town Food Inspector Nancy Simons-Ruderman said she had answered two calls to the board in recent weeks complaining about masks not being used in the facility. GPT, located at 31 Williamstown Road, is required by state COVID-19 regulations, according to the Simons-Ruderman, to have a masked and COVID-19 vaccinated staff.
"These people do have a license with the state," she said. "So if they have a license with the state, they're supposed to, obviously, be following these requirements set by the state."
The most recent regulation has been in place since May 29, 2021.
Simons-Ruderman said she reached out to GPT about the complaints and left her number to get a response back from Lisa J. Baumgart, proprietor of GPT. Simons-Ruderman said the response she ultimately got was from Baumgart's lawyer telling her that further inquiries must go through their law office.
"Two days later, I got an email from her lawyer. I don't know how he got my email address, but he sent it to my private email," she said. "And again, stating that all future inquiries need to go to their office. And then, maybe 10 days later, then we get the certified letter."
While Ruderman said there were no new complaints to the office in the last few days, she sent an email Tuesday to the state Department of Labor Standards regarding the issue. The board also discussed the possibility of sending a similar letter to other relevant entities.
"The other thing that the two people that called in said that was, 'They don't even ask, they don't even require the clients coming in to wear the masks either.' So, obviously, some of them are masked up. I thought maybe after I didn't get a response, I was going to ride up there and see, but then I said, 'Nah, give them time to respond. And then, you know, I get the email from her lawyer."
While such situations are usually not her focus as the board's food inspector, Simons-Ruderman said she felt it was necessary to follow up on the complaints. She said she would update the board again once she had more information on the situation.
"When you're an agent with the Board of Health, and we get complaints, we have to, because we're a representative, we have to follow through on complaints."
In other business, the board discussed the possibility of creating a survey on offering trash collection for Lanesborough residents.
"What I hear is, for the towns that have this service, people love it," said board Chair Lawrence Spatz.
Spatz said he created a preliminary list of questions that he thought of, noting that it could potentially go out with the next round of tax bills.
"If it doesn't increase the postage on the tax bill, it could go out with a tax bill," he said. "And the next one is in July."
Town Clerk Ruth Knysh said she has heard about residents wanting trash collection in the past.
"A resident came in today to pay her excise, and she was inquiring about why taxes are going up. And then she was like, 'I don't usually complain but we don't really, you know, get anything.' And she said, 'All I want is trash pickup.'"
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