Fairview Hospital named a Top 20 Critical Access Hospital

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass — Berkshire Health Systems has announced Fairview Hospital was recently named one of the top 20 critical access hospitals (CAHs) for overall performance in the country.
 
The top 20 CAHs, including Fairview, scored best among CAHs as determined by the Chartis Center for Rural Health. The rankings were recently announced by the National Rural Health Association (NRHA). An awards ceremony will be held during NRHA’s Critical Access Hospital Conference in September in Kansas City, MO.
 
The top 20 CAHs have achieved success in overall performance based on a composite rating from eight indices of strength: inpatient market share, outpatient market share, quality, outcomes, patient perspective, cost, charge, and finance. This group was selected from the Chartis Center for Rural Health’s 2026 top 100 CAH list, which was released earlier this year.
 
The top 20 CAH best practice recipients have achieved success in one of two key areas of performance:
 
Quality index: A rating of hospital performance based on the percentile rank across rural-relevant process of care measures.
 
Patient perspective index: A rating of hospital performance based on the percentile rank across all 10 HCAHPS domains.
 
"Berkshire Health Systems is proud of the efforts of the many Fairview providers and staff who have all contributed to the achievement of this remarkable designation," said Anthony Scibelli, BHS Vice President and Fairview Chief Operating Officer. "Our results as a top overall hospital means our community can count on us to deliver the exceptional care and services our patients expect and deserve, now and in the future."

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Housatonic Water Works Penalized for Delayed Treatment Facility

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The state Department of Environmental Protection has issued a $2,500 demand for payment of suspended penalty to Housatonic Water Works Co. for failure to comply with a July 2025 Administrative Consent Order with Penalty. 
 
The order required the company to complete a manganese treatment plant at its drinking water treatment facility by June 1, 2026. 
 
"It is unacceptable that Housatonic Water Works has failed to meet the required deadline for completing and placing the manganese treatment system into operation," said Michael Gorski, director of MassDEP's Western Regional Office in Springfield. "MassDEP expects the company to accelerate construction of the treatment plant and make it operational without further delay." 
 
Under the terms of the 2025 order, the water company agreed to complete the manganese treatment plant by March 1, 2026, to mitigate ongoing seasonal drinking water discoloration affecting the company's service areas. 
 
MassDEP agreed to suspend the full penalty of $12,360 on the condition that it complied with the requirements of the order. The company subsequently requested an extension of the March 1 deadline, citing pending litigation and related delays in acquiring required construction funding. MassDEP extended the completion date to June 1. The company requested an additional extension; MassDEP denied that request. 
 
Housatonic Water Works had failed to complete construction of the treatment plant. Based on that violation of its order, MassDEP demanded partial payment of the suspended penalty in the amount of $2,500. Penalty costs may not be passed along to ratepayers in any way. MassDEP will continue to track this matter closely until compliance is achieved. 
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