Provider Profile – Suzanne Childs, BHS Occupational Therapist

Print Story | Email Story
Across the country, there are nearly 135,000 Occupational Therapists, and Suzanne Childs, who provides this specialized care at the Center for Rehabilitation at BMC, says OT goes beyond helping someone regain their functions for work.
 
"We promote functional independence for people and help restore not only vocational skills, but also homemaking and daily living skills," said Childs. "Occupational Therapy covers the full range of activities people of all ages do to live functional, meaningful lives."
 
Suzanne has been with BMC since 1994 and has served as an Occupational Therapist in the Berkshires for nearly 30 years, most of that time in the outpatient setting. She came to the Berkshires after providing OT services in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and later New York state.
 
"Occupational Therapists often work together with Physical Therapists, but our roles are quite unique. PT focuses on improving the patient's ability to move their body, whereas I concentrate on improving my patient's ability to perform activities of daily living. We help our patients to do things beyond their PT care, such as brushing their teeth, getting dressed, making meals and all of their other everyday tasks that may have been impeded by an illness or injury."
 
Suzanne is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and completed her clinical education at Toledo Mental Health in Ohio and Magee Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia. Over the years, she has provided care for spinal cord injury, stroke, post-acute rehabilitation for children and young adults and general rehabilitation.
 
If you need Occupational Therapy or any kind of rehabilitative care, ask your primary care provider for a referral or call the Center for Rehabilitation at BMC at 413-447-2234.




Tags: BHS,   BMC,   


Pittsfield Schools Get Additional Chapter 70 Funds

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield schools received almost $459,000 in additional Chapter 70 funds, and officials are looking to restore some positions. 

On Tuesday, the City Council accepted an additional $458,660 for the Pittsfield Public Schools fiscal year 2027 budget. Mayor Peter Marchetti confirmed that they were Chapter 70 funds, the primary source of state aid for public elementary and secondary schools in Massachusetts. 

"What I can tell you is, during the budget process, [State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier] was talking about two different pots of money that she was looking to get, and so some of this came from the per pupil aid amount. That's what the increase in our funding was for,” he explained when asked about how it will be spent. 

"It was her intent, and it was the intent of the superintendent, to save positions. Positions that we were cutting from the budget. But I can't give you a definitive answer because the School Committee has not engaged in the conversation of where that money will go inside the school budget," he said.

The School Committee can appropriate the funds at its discretion. Marchetti, also School Committee chair, agreed to notify councilors where those monies went in the budget, per Ward 7 Councilor Kathy Moody's request.

The Pittsfield Public Schools' original $86,855,061 budget included $68,886,061 in Chapter 70 funding. PPS faced a more than $4 million deficit during this process. 

Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Bonnie Howland on Wednesday told the School Committee that they have discussed adding at least four paraprofessionals.

"We're going to try to stretch the money as far as we can," she said, explaining that they talked about maintaining the assistant principal of teaching and learning and Reid but were notified that it will be grant-funded. 

View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories