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Old 03-25-2014, 07:01 PM
 
543 posts, read 699,869 times
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An article in IBerkshires.com.
There will be long ambulance rides to Pittsfield. Sad
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Old 03-26-2014, 08:15 AM
 
9 posts, read 29,982 times
Reputation: 36
This is not good for the community that depends on the hospital, and its certainly not good for the 500+ employers that will be fired.
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Old 04-02-2014, 07:04 AM
 
Location: North Adams, MA
80 posts, read 217,658 times
Reputation: 144
It's been devastating for the community. About 530 people lost their jobs, and the hospital was the largest employer in the city. Now I think MASS MoCA is the largest employer in the city, but that's not saying much because they're a non-profit that can't afford to give hourly workers more than 35 hours a week.
It's a shame the hospital's debt got the better of them, but I can't help wondering if the drastic action of closing could have been avoided if belts were tightened. Could costs have been cut even more? Also, could the state develop a plan that could supplement hospitals that serve out-of-the-way, rural areas so people don't lose vital healthcare service? Better yet, since North Adams Regional Hospital also serves communities in southern VT and eastern NY, can't those states kick in some money commensurate to the residents using the hospital? Here's an even more novel idea... how about the state actually spread the wealth and stop centering everything on the Boston area???
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Old 04-02-2014, 07:27 AM
 
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,938 posts, read 36,838,343 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gypsyartist View Post
how about the state actually spread the wealth and stop centering everything on the Boston area???

It's been a few years since I've seen the date (probably 2010), but the state does spend, per capita, more in the less densely populated Western and Berkshire Counties. Metro Boston effectively subsidizes (or did until a few years ago) the rest of the state. That isn't surprising, it happens in most states that the large metro area subsidizes the rural / more rural areas.
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Old 04-02-2014, 08:45 AM
 
5,293 posts, read 6,133,741 times
Reputation: 5473
Southwestern Vermont Medical Center hospital in Bennington isn't that far away. Too bad for North Adams. I can remember passing through the town (on my way to scout the Hoosac Tunnel) in the 70's when the big industry was Sprague Electric, which employed many thousands making resistors and capacitors. The Sprague complex is now Mass Moca and the name is owned by Vishay Intertechnology of Malvern, PA.
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Old 04-04-2014, 03:28 PM
 
536 posts, read 842,069 times
Reputation: 1486
I had excellent care once at that hospital when I was living nearby.

So sorry to hear that it is closing.

North Adams didn't need that on top of all the other problems it has. The hospital at Bennington is not far as the crow flies but (due to the winding roads) as the car drives it is a half hour or more from N Adams.

Some stroke victims will die and all will be sicker by the time they get into treatment.
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Old 04-07-2014, 07:11 AM
 
Location: Massachusetts
9,513 posts, read 16,451,162 times
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My nephew had care at the North Adams Hospital a good 10 years ago now. It was very good, and I hate to hear that this Hospital is closed. I have always been amazed at how much of the USA, thinks Mass has such great health care. I have always doubted that, especially since this state has areas that have become depressed.

The closing of this hospital reflects, just how depressed some areas of Mass have become. I think its a disgrace that the North Adams area has no health facility now. . Not everything in Mass evolves around Greater Boston, though I think the politicians think it does. It's as if anything west of Worcester is just forgotten about, likes its not a part of this state. I don't feel this hospital should have been forced to close. I think the state should have investigated, and offered help so an entire region was still able to have a hospital

What happens now is people need to go to Bennington or elsewhere for care. So what that does is overburden those health care facilities, especially I imagine the Bennington one. So it becomes a problem that just spreads from one Health care facility to another.
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