Two court cases this week may clear up uncertainty over the immediate future of emergency services in the Northern Berkshires. North Adams Regional Hospital has been closed since March 28. A hearing on a temporary restraining order allowing Berkshire Medical Center to operate a satellite emergency facility in the region continues Tuesday.
The state’s department of public health has granted BMC a license to open the facility, but additional licenses are needed from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Servicesand the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents about 100 of 530 former Northern Berkshire Healthcare employees, is taking two buses to hand deliver a petition to Governor Deval Patrick Tuesday.
“The ultimate goal and everything that we’ve been doing is to establish and restore a full-service hospital for the 38,000-plus in northern Berkshire County,” MNA spokesman David Schildmeier said.
The court-appointed trustee and bondholders are due in U.S. bankruptcy court Wednesday regarding NBH’s assets.
After returning from Boston, the MNA and SEIU 1199, which represents about 200 former NBH employees, will hold a meeting Tuesday, the fourth one since NBH announced it would file Chapter 7 bankruptcy March 25. The meeting starts at 5 p.m. at the North Adams American Legion.
