Donald C. McGraw Foundation Makes $1M Leadership Gift to Fairview Hospital

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L-R: Fairview Chief of Staff and Medical Director Alec Belman, MD; Fairview Medical Director, Emergency Medicine Joshua Pacheco, MD; Fairview Chief Operating Officer Anthony Scibelli; Elizabeth, (Buzz) McGraw; Robert L.W. (Robin) McGraw; BHS President & CEO Darlene Rodowicz; BHS Development Committee Chair Kate McCormick; Fairview Chief of Surgery Mark Taylor II, MD (Provided Photo)
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — On Monday, Nov. 3, Elizabeth "Buzz" and Robert L. W. McGraw "Robin" presented Fairview Hospital with a $1 million leadership donation from The Donald C. McGraw Foundation, Inc. in support of a campus revitalization plan that includes construction of a new 44,000 square-foot outpatient building adjacent to the current hospital.
 
This gift continues the decades-long partnership with The Donald C. McGraw Foundation in support of Fairview Hospital.
 
"Berkshire Health Systems and Fairview Hospital are deeply grateful to Robin and Buzz and The Donald C. McGraw Foundation for their extraordinary leadership gift to support this vital capital investment towards our beloved critical access hospital," said Darlene Rodowicz, Berkshire Health Systems (BHS) President & CEO.
 
According to a press release, Philanthropic support from individuals, corporations, and foundations is essential to realizing the Fairview campus revitalization plan. As a major donor to Fairview Hospital for over 20 years and a member of the BHS Development Committee, McGraw is playing a pivotal role in leading the fundraising effort for this project.
 
"Robin's leadership as both a donor and volunteer illustrate the power of community members having a voice and a stake in shaping the future of their community hospital," said Tony Scibelli, BHS vice president and chief operating officer of Fairview Hospital. "I am honored to work alongside Robin on this transformative project and to celebrate The Donald C. McGraw Foundation's enduring commitment to ensuring exceptional healthcare closer to home."
 
A federally designated Critical Access Hospital, Fairview Hospital serves the Southern Berkshire region, and modernizing the campus has been a long-term priority. Earlier this year, the BHS Board of Trustees approved plans for the outpatient building designed with flexible clinical spaces that reflect today's standards of care and anticipate the needs of future patients.
 
The new facility will include expanded surgical and imaging suites, a state-of-the-art MRI, and a larger, modern emergency department. The building is slated for completion by the end of 2028. Once open, the hospital's existing medical/surgical inpatient unit will be renovated into private, updated patient rooms. These enhancements will expand capacity for advanced treatment and technology, ensuring that Fairview Hospital continues to meet the evolving healthcare needs of the community it serves.

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Friperie Berkshires Moves to New Great Barrington Location

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Friperie Berkshires has moved to new quarters on Bridge Street and will reopen this Friday, Feb. 13.

Owner Elizabeth Conkey has relocated her store from Lee above the Berkshire Co-op at 34 Bridge St., in Suite 101. 

The space is twice the size of her former spot in Lee, which is better for her, she said, because she needed it to add more services for her customers.

"I've been looking for a permanent space to land, and this space is perfect, because it's twice the size of where I was and I needed more room because I'm going to start doing men's and children's clothing as well," she said.

Besides adding more clothing, she will also be implementing a wardrobe service for her customers. 

"In addition to just constantly stocking the store and finding treasures, I started offering a capsule wardrobe service," Conkey said. "So it has three tiers, and basically, people can hire me depending on what tier of offering they're interested in, and I will go and thrift specifically for them based on a mood board that they send me from Pinterest, or just a file folder of photos that they like."

Conkey kept the Lee storefront through the summer and had been renting a space in Great Barrington from a friend. She finally found her new space around New Year's, and will be launching a website.

She is excited to open just a short distance from where she was. 

"I've really grown pretty exponentially in the past six months. I'm launching a website. I'm so thrilled with the growth. So it just seems like appropriate to finally move into the forever space, and have room to spread out and offer more categories of clothing," she said.

She also wanted to express her gratitude for her customers and friends' support to keep her dream alive.

"I am just so grateful to the people who have continued to shop in my store from the day it opened. Through the holidays, I had an incredible holiday season, and I just felt so grateful to everybody for telling their friends at my store, sharing about what they bought on Instagram, encouraging co-workers to come in," Conkey said. "It's been such a gift to feel welcomed by the community, and I feel like now my customers are becoming my friends, and I'm just excited to start this new chapter and never have to move all of this inventory ever again."

She will be open Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. She encourages people to check her Instagram for updates on clothes and her store.

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