BCC Now Admitting Students into Respiratory Care Program

08:05AM / Friday, March 10, 2023Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College (BCC) is now accepting applications for the fall semester for its Respiratory Care program.

The program is part of a workforce development pipeline at Berkshire Health Systems (BHS), otherwise known as the "talent pipeline," which is designed to create a direct career path from education and training to full-time employment at BHS.

The largest employer in the Berkshires, BHS covers the cost of all training in its pipeline programs and also offers trainees full-time pay with benefits while they are completing their training.

"In as little as two years, students can earn an associate degree in respiratory therapy at BCC, then complete their training at BHS, where respiratory therapists are in demand," said Lori Moon, BCC Dean of Nursing. "It's a fantastic partnership that benefits both BCC students and the growing healthcare workforce in the Berkshires."

Respiratory care practitioners help treat patients with a wide range of cardiopulmonary illnesses, including asthma or heart failure. Respiratory care includes diagnostic testing and administering oxygen, various other gases and aerosol drugs.

BCC's two-year Respiratory Care program, a sequence of lecture, laboratory and clinical courses, prepares students to become Certified Respiratory Therapists (CRTs) and Registered Respiratory Therapists (RRTs). The program combines coursework and hands-on training, emphasizing the rigorous technical and academic competencies required of a respiratory therapist. Students who complete the program are eligible to take the National Board for Respiratory Care examination.

Graduates of the program are employed in diverse areas of healthcare, holding positions such as neonatal/pediatric specialists, adult critical care specialists, pulmonary rehabilitation specialists, critical care transport therapists, home-care therapists, clinical educators and many more. The projected average salary of respiratory therapists working in the United States is more than $73,000 per year. In Massachusetts, respiratory therapists earn a median wage of $73,000 to $87,000.

The Respiratory Care program at BCC is accredited by The Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC).? For more information, visit www.berkshirecc.edu/respiratory-care.

Tags: BCC, BHS, BMC,

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Pittsfield Projects See $1M in Community One Stop Grants

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:10AM / Monday, October 05, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — City projects were allocated $1 million through the Community One Stop for Growth portal in fiscal year 2027.

This includes hundreds of thousands of dollars for the adaptive reuse of two downtown buildings into apartments: the former St. Joseph's High School and Berkshire County Savings Bank.

Developer David Carver of Scarafoni Associates & CT Management Group plans to convert the former Catholic high school on Maplewood Avenue into 19 units, four of which will be designated affordable. The City of Pittsfield was allocated $500,000 from the Housing Choice Grant Program to support accessibility improvements and elevator installation for the project.

Allegrone Companies saw $350,000 from the Underutilized Properties Program to support interior demolition and remediation for the adaptive reuse of a long-vacant, historic building overlooking Park Square into housing units and commercial space.

Since 2021, the Community One Stop for Growth has distributed more than 1,900 awards totaling more than $1 billion in funding for housing and economic development growth goals in Massachusetts communities.

Pittsfield has received 30 awards, totaling $11.7 million.

Over the summer, Housing Secretary Juana Matias visited the shuttered St. Joe's school that functioned as a shelter during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The then 120-year-old Catholic high school ceased operations in 2017.

The City Council approved a 10-year tax increment exemption agreement that freezes the current property value base, starting at 100 percent forgiveness in the first year, decreasing by 10 percent annually; a local incentive is required to submit an application to the EOHLC.