CHP Including 'Size-Inclusive Care' Principles into Patient Care

11:21AM / Saturday, February 24, 2024Print Story | Email Story

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — A Feb. 29 CHP webinar, "Size-Inclusive Care: Better Health Care for All Bodies," is a free online event for the public, healthcare providers, nutritionists and others interested in weight bias.

The webinar takes place noon-1 p.m.

The talk, free and open to the public, will address how weight stigma bias can show up in healthcare settings and the impact of weight bias on people's health. Presenters will discuss CHP's initiative to improve healthcare for people who have avoided or delayed medical care because of past healthcare experiences.

Event registration: https://chpberkshires.org/event/size-inclusive-care/

"Weight bias can have detrimental effects on people's health care experiences and can interfere with health treatment and outcomes," said Annie Schwartz, a CHP nutritionist and director of the CHP Size-Inclusive Care initiative. "In health care, a primary focus on a patient's weight can cause other, non-weight related issues to be overlooked, leaving patients feeling unheard and dis-empowered."

Schwartz also noted, "This topic impacts people all across the size spectrum. Anyone who has had anxiety around being weighed at the doctor's office will benefit from this approach."

Schwartz will host the event with Kim Loring, CHP psychiatric nurse practitioner.

Size-inclusive care initiatives at CHP include clinicians in primary care, OB-GYN, and nutrition services.

Tags: CHP,

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First Eagle Mill Units in Lee to Open in Springtime

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:02AM / Tuesday, February 03, 2026

Eagle Mills developer Jeffrey Cohen updates the Lee Chamber of Commerce as the project's phases, and the amount of heavy lifting to get it to this point.

LEE, Mass. — More than 50 affordable units are expected to come online at the Eagle Mill this spring.

This is the first of several planned development phases at the former paper mill that dates back to the early 1800s, totaling more than 200 units. The Lee Chamber of Commerce hosted an information session on the project during its Business Breakfast last Wednesday.

"We are here because we have a really big project that's happened for a very long time here in Lee, that, for myself, has provided a real sense of hope, and has has really defined this community as one of the few in the Berkshires that's really looking forward, as opposed to just being sort of stuck in the past," Chamber member Erik Williams said.

The estimated $60 million development broke ground in 2021 after nearly a decade of planning and permitting. Hundreds of workers once filed into the 8-acre complex, producing up to 165 tons of paper a week. The last mill on the property closed in 2008.

Hearthway is accepting applications for 56 affordable apartments called "The Lofts at Eagle Mill" with expected occupancy in May. The housing nonprofit was also approved for 45 additional units of new construction on the site.

Jeffrey Cohen of Eagle Mill Redevelopment LLC said the project dates back to 2012, when a purchase contract was signed for the West Center Street property. The developers didn't have to close on the property until renovation plans were approved in 2017, and the mill was sold for $700,000.

It seemed like a great deal for the structure and eight acres on the Housatonic River, Cohen explained, but he wasn't aware of the complex pre-development costs, state, and local approvals it would entail. Seven individually owned homes adjacent to the property were also acquired and demolished for parking and site access.

"If I knew today what I knew then, I'm not sure we'd be sitting here," he said, joining the breakfast remotely over Zoom.

Cohen praised the town's government, explaining that the redesigns and critiques "Could not have been done in a friendlier way, in a more helpful way," and the two Massachusetts governors serving during the project's tenure. The Eagle Mill redevelopment is supported by state and federal grants, as well as low-income housing tax credits.

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