NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A discussion on reopening North Adams Regional Hospital was greeted with strong applause on Thursday night.

 

Berkshire Health Systems, which acquired the hospital campus and restored many of its services, anticipates opening up to 18 in-patient beds next year and adding about 50 jobs. 

 

Nearly 100 people attended the meeting at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' Church Street Center to hear about plans to resurrect the hospital that closed nearly a decade ago. 

 

"We're really focused on trying to create a healthier county as a whole. And re-establishing these inpatient beds we think is a big part of that, because it strengthens our ability to serve patients in North County," said Darlene M. Rodowicz, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems.

 

"We've heard concerns in the last nine years that not everybody finds it easy to get to Pittsfield and oftentimes people delay their care because of that."

 

She continued that restoring the hospital will not only provide convenience and comfort for patients but allow for more services to be provided to them.

 

"Our surgeons have been a little hesitant to do some cases in North Adams because we haven't had an ability to keep people for an extended time if the procedure doesn't go as planned," Rodowicz said. "And now with that observation designation, we're going to be able to do more surgeries in North Adams as well."

 

But, she cautioned, the facility will have to be financially viable. 

 

"It'd be a terrible disservice if we were to open it up and close it two years later. Right?" she said. "So we need to make sure that we're making this decision that not only are we meeting the needs which we know exists here, but that it is something that can exist for years to come."

 

A crucial piece to ensuring the hospital's sustaining ability will be securing critical access hospital status, which will allow for greater reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid.

 

"Critical access hospital is just one piece of this puzzle of strengthening the health system and being able to provide services close to home," Rodowicz said. 

 

More than 1,300 rural hospitals have been designated as critical access since the program began in 1997, including Fairview in Great Barrington. A change in how a primary road is categorized by the government last year opened up the opportunity for BHS to apply for the designation for North Adams. 

 

As a critical access hospital, NARH will be able to have up to 25 medical/surgical beds that can also be used as "swing beds" for rehabilitation. Rodowicz said it means that rather than being sent to a skilled nursing facility after, say, a knee replacement, a patient could be treated in the hospital. 

 

BHS plans to open 18 private rooms on 2 North, including in what had been the critical care unit. Another seven rooms will open in another section and the hospital can have up to 10 rooms for behavioral, mental health and substance abuse treatment. 

 

The beds will open in stages of four or five at a time; Rodowicz said there are no plans yet to open a mental health unit. 

 

"We're really focusing on the inpatient beds. It's a huge lift, to get these beds open. And I don't want anything to get in the way," she said. "But you have my word that we are working on doing something in that space, and I don't know the answer because there's a lot of insurance regulations on what we can and can't do." 

 

BHS is applying for a new license for the hospital, which dictates much of what it can do and how it operates. That limits the number of beds, requires things like a four-day average stay and that the hospital be part of a larger system of care community. 

 

While much of the medical services are already in existence on campus, what won't be included are pediatrics and maternity, Rodowicz said in response to questions. She said pediatrics requires specialists and that most go to Bay State Medical Center. Berkshire Medical Center has five beds for simple observation. 

 

As for maternity, there aren't enough babies being born in the Berkshires to justify a birthing ward. 

 

"In order to open up a new birthing place, you need to have about 800 deliveries, Rodowicz said. "We're not even doing 800 deliveries in the whole county."

 

She acknowledged that the hospital system is wanting for workers, with about a 15 percent vacancy rate. BHS is investing $7 million to develop a "workforce of the future," including working with MCLA on its bachelor's degree nursing program and recruiting physicians. 

 

The presentation was recorded for broadcast on Northern Berkshire Community Television.