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Continued Calls For Full-Service Hospital, Two Years After NARH Closure

Jim Levulis
/
WAMC
The former North Adams Regional Hospital is now the Northern Berkshire campus of Berkshire Medical Center.

It’s been roughly two years since North Adams Regional Hospital closed and its parent company declared bankruptcy. The move shocked the region and put more than 500 people out of work. Though medical services have returned to the campus, but some in the community still insist they need a full-service hospital.“We are very grateful for everything that Berkshire Health Systems has done thus far, but it falls short of the needs of our community,” said Dick Dassati, co-chair of the North County Cares Coalition.

The ad hoc group has met nearly every week since North Adams Regional closed on March 28, 2014. It works with the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represented about 100 NARH employees, to advocate for a full-service hospital in the North Berkshires. Shortly after NARH closed, Berkshire Health Systems reopened the North Adams emergency room via court order. Making the only bid, the Pittsfield-based company bought the campus in September 2014 for $4 million. Since then BHS has invested millions of dollars to expand beyond emergency care at what it now calls its Northern Berkshire campus.

“The Neighborhood for Health was opened in the middle of 2015 and is seeing patients regularly who need some assistance in preventing hospital admissions,” said BHS spokesman Michael Leary. “We have our laboratory drawing stations there and outpatient radiology services – including MRI and CT as well as screening mammography. Home care services are offered through the Berkshire VNA. We also have outpatient surgery for orthopedics, urologic care and GYN. Our diabetes program is on the North Adams campus. The tobacco treatment services are offered there, wound care and cardiovascular testing.”

Leary says renal dialysis will open later this year. Still, Dassatti says Northern Berkshire County deserves in-patient services.

“We’re like the boy in Oliver!, we want more,” Dassatti said. “We want one standard of care for all the residents of Berkshire County. Berkshire Health Systems has a monopoly on healthcare in Berkshire County. There is a full-service hospital in Pittsfield – Berkshire Medical Center – and a full-service hospital in Great Barrington – Fairview Hospital. We feel the 37,000 residents of North County should be treated fairly and have equal access to care.”

“We need 32 inpatients beds [citing the state-commissioned report] in our hospital,” Dassatti continued. “There are a lot of people sleeping on beds that have political bed that have to wake up and make those beds available for the sick, tired and ill in North County.”

Leary says North Adams’ emergency facility sees about 1,400 patient encounters a month. He says the average of 45 patients a day is close to what the ED was seeing before NARH closed. Comparatively, emergency department encounters at Pittsfield’s Berkshire Medical Center, about 20 miles from North Adams, rose from 60,000 to 65,000 between 2013 and 2014. Final figures aren’t available for 2015, but Leary says they are slightly above 2014’s.

A state-commissioned report released in September 2014 found an inpatient facility was feasible in Northern Berkshire County only if it receives federal critical access designation, which allows for increased reimbursement rates. It’s a status enjoyed by BHS’ Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington. North Adams Regional’s application was denied in 2011. Leary says BHS has not applied for the status for the North Adams facility.

“We’re hearing that people are grateful for many services that are offered up there,” Leary said. “There are a number of services that are or will be offered at the North Adams campus that weren’t even offered there when there was a North Adams Regional Hospital. Part of the goal, especially with a program like our Neighborhood for Health, is to try to prevent the need for hospitalization.”

The closure was a major topic in 2015’s North Adams mayoral race. Challenger John Barrett, who served as mayor for 25 years, said if he was still in office the hospital wouldn’t have closed as abruptly as it did and called for the return of a full-service hospital. Incumbent Richard Alcombright said his focus was on making sure the region’s healthcare system is sustainable. Alcombright was reelected to a fourth term, beating Barrett by roughly 375 votes.

“We have all the major components of a very strong medical service component up there on the hill and I couldn’t be more pleased,” Alcombright said earlier this month. “We have many people who are back at work.”

The North County Cares Coalition is planning a rally at North Adams City Hall at 4:30 Monday, which is the two-year anniversary of the hospital’s closing, to call for the restoration of a full-service hospital.

Click here for WAMC's coverage of the closure of North Adams Regional Hospital and related events since.

Jim is WAMC’s Associate News Director and hosts WAMC's flagship news programs: Midday Magazine, Northeast Report and Northeast Report Late Edition. Email: jlevulis@wamc.org
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