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Kiwanis President Curtis Janey presents BMC's Family Birthplace Director Deborah Rugen and Nursing Director Susan Gazzillo with kits for new moms.

Pittsfield Kiwanis Gifts Newborn Safety Kits to BMC's Birth Center

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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Kiwanis President Curtis Janey says the new-mom kits are the first club project at BMC. The next will be a distribution of teddy bears. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Kiwanis Club of Pittsfield provided Berkshire Medical Center's family birthplace with around 100 newborn safety kits on Tuesday as its first service project of the year.

These kits include outlet covers, a rubber duck that checks if bath water is at the right temperature, and pamphlets with tips for new mothers after being discharged from the hospital.

"The family birthplace does prepare them for so much already but this is just something to help them out along the way," Kiwanis President Curtis Janey explained.

He said the care package will make things a little safer for the new babies — especially for new parents. The materials give tips for water, medicine, and sleep safety as well as preventing falls.

They also give a gentle reminder that all babies cry.

BMC staff members were grateful for the gifts and the work of the Kiwanis Club.

"We're so focused on sending our moms and babies and extended family out with the best experience not only here, but preparing them for home because we know that babies cry and all of those other things," Senior Director of Nursing Susan Gazzillo said.

"So I think this just kind of goes with our whole mission to take care of our community. We hope we do that very well within our walls and this is just a way to send them home so that we can take care of them outside our walls."



She said the club is the community, telling Janey that "you need us and we need you."

Family Birthplace Department Director Deborah Rugen sees the kits being handed out upon discharge and said it will be a "really nice addition."

This is the club's first service project at BMC and Janey said the hospital was chosen because it is "homegrown." While efforts are spread throughout the county, Pittsfield is a priority.

"We want to make sure we take care of our hometown first," he said.

The Kiwanis International's mission is to serve the needs of children. The Pittsfield branch's next project will be distributing teddy bears to the hospital.

"We're in this together and it is our community," Gazzillo said. "It is our city."

The annual Park of Honor in Park Square is the club's biggest draw. Flags are purchased in honor of local veterans to raise money for scholarships that support the children and grandchildren of veterans.

This year will be the 10th year of the fundraiser and Janey is hoping that it will be bigger than ever.


Tags: BMC,   children & families,   donations,   kiwanis,   

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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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