The North Adams City Council has backed a petition calling on Berkshire Health Systems to open an inpatient opioid detoxification center in the region.The council voted 8 to 1 Tuesday in support of the resolution developed by the North County Cares Coalition, which formed after the 2014 closure of North Adams Regional Hospital. Coalition co-chair Jim Lipa says inpatient detox beds would fill a void in Northern Berkshire County.
“This is just one portion of an addict’s treatment,” Lipa said. “We’re trying to have this treated as a disease not as a crime. It needs to be treated as a disease and this is the first step.”
BHS took over operation of the North Adams Hospital and provides in-patient beds about 20 miles south in Pittsfield.
