Nearly a decade after North Adams Regional Hospital was abruptly closed, Berkshire Health Systems says it plans to reopen it.
The hospital abruptly closed in March 2014 as parent organization Northern Berkshire Healthcare declared bankruptcy, putting more than 500 people out of work. BHS bought the facility later in 2014 and has operated it as a satellite facility of Berkshire Medical Center. Company President and CEO Darlene Rodowicz says inpatient services will return to the facility now that it has received federal critical access designation, something that had been sought for North Adams Regional before its closure.
"As a critical access hospital, we can have no more than 25 beds," Rodowicz said. "And so that is our plan; is to be able to open up the inpatient beds and provide care to folks that have chronic conditions that have been exacerbated and need to be treated, things like simple pneumonia, UTIs, some post-surgical observation as well."
In a statement to WAMC, BHS spokesperson Michael Leary detailed how the company was able to receive the critical access designation.
"Prior to the NARH closure, they had sought Critical Access Hospital designation, but the federal rules at that time said that you were ineligible for CAH status if you were under 35 miles from the nearest full service hospital by a federal highway," Leary said. "Route 7 is a federal highway, and BMC is 24 miles from NARH. In November of 2022 the government changed the guidelines to redefine federal highway requirement for the 35-mile distance as four-lanes. If the federal highway was only two lanes, which is what 7 is, the government reduced the mileage requirement to 15 miles, making NA within the mile limit."
BHS expects the facility – which will be licensed as a new hospital – will be able to see patients as early as January. Members of the North Adams community have called for the return of a full-service hospital since its closure.
Click here for WAMC's coverage of North Adams Regional Hospital.
