image description
Berkshire Health Systems is opening a new urgent care facility next week on the Pittsfield/Lenox Road in response to patient demand.
image description
The center will also offer telehealth services along with
image description
occupational health.

Berkshire Health Opening New Urgent Care Facility in Lenox

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story

Hospital officials were at the open house on Wednesday to tour the new urgent care facility. 

LENOX, Mass. — Berkshire Health Systems is gearing toward opening its new urgent care facility in The Center at Lenox.

On Wednesday night, BHS held an open house for people to come and tour the new facility before its opening on Monday. 

The health system opened an urgent care at 505 East St. in Pittsfield in 2015. But annual visits doubled from just over 17,000 patients in 2020 compared to more than 35,000 in 2023.

"At the end of the pandemic, we saw an increase in our usage, community usage, of our urgent care. We found it a little difficult about the demand. Wait times are long, we're seeing as many people as we can, upwards of 115 120 per day in Pittsfield, but we realize that that's not it's not enough." said Rob Shearer, administrative director of urgent care services.

This led to BHS to expand to be able to help more patients more efficiently.

"We did a ZIP code analysis to see what the utilization was and where people were coming from," Shearer said. "And there's a large population that comes from South County so this just worked out to be a really perfect location. Hopefully, we'll offload a little bit of our volume in Pittsfield, bring those wait times down, and then we'll be able to manage both a little bit more efficiently than we are," .

The urgent care center at 489 Pittsfield Road will be about the same as the one in Pittsfield but occupational health will be designated there as well as predominantly having a travel clinic at this location.

"There's going to be some 'occ' health that's designated, as this is the site, and one of the things that we talked about, the travel clinic, we'll do that predominantly here just because we will have all the vaccines that you might need in one of the fridges," said Dr. Michael McHugh, chair of the emergency departments at Berkshire Medical Center and North Adams Regional Hospital.

Many residents who came to the open house to take a tour and ask questions of staff were amazed at the new place and excited for the convenience it will bring them.

"This is right between where I live in Lee and where I hang out in Pittsfield so it's very convenient," said Clark Nicholls. "And it's a great facility. The exam rooms are quite sizable; it looks like they have a lot of equipment, more than [the urgent care at] St. Luke's Square, so I look forward to if I need it I'll be coming here."

"We are about three minutes away if we needed to come, otherwise we will have to go to the hospital or Great Barrington or St. Luke's," Joe Sloane of Pittsfield said.

"We're just so thrilled that something's closer for us to get to because we always either go to Pittsfield or Great Barrington or wherever you have to go so now it's right here," said Lenox resident Nancy Thompson. "So you're going to get a lot more people I think in this location especially in the summertime with Tanglewood people, 'cause we don't really have anything that they can get to quickly as this is the place so, yeah, very excited."

Like the current location in Pittsfield, this facility will offer X-rays, sports physicals, vaccinations, and more including telehealth services. Patients can book online or inside. 

Berkshire Health Urgent Care in Lenox will accept a wide variety of health insurance plans, including private commercial coverage, Medicare and MassHealth through the Berkshire Fallon Health Collaborative, all of which are also accepted at the Pittsfield Berkshire Health Urgent Care location.

The facility will open its doors at 8 a.m. Monday, March 17, and closes at 8 p.m. everyday; closed Thanksgiving and Christmas.


Tags: BHS,   urgent care,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Allendale Pines North Affordable Manufactured Homes Sell Fast

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff

Developer Teton Management cut the ribbon on the first six hopes in the manufactured housing community earlier this year. 
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Just a few months after Allendale Pines North cut the ribbon on its first six homes in the new manufactured home community, units in the planned development are selling fast with both first and second phases all but sold out.
 
For several years, Teton Management Corp. has been planning to expand its existing Allendale Pines Mobile Community with the development of 22 planned manufactured housing units. The new development has its own entrance at 395 Cheshire Road. 
 
The need for attainable housing has never been higher, Teton President George Whaling said. 
 
"And where we sought the opportunity to help with that demand is, we can get folks into a home at Allendale Pines North for essentially a couple of $100 less than what it would cost for someone to rent a three-bedroom of the same quality," he said. 
 
The corporation took over Allendale Pines, now referred to as Allendale Pines South, about 6 1/2 years ago, Whaling said. 
 
Since then, the corporation has invested $1,000,001 in infrastructure improvements, including replacing all water and sewer lines, paving the community and installing the infrastructure needed for 10 additional units, he said. 
 
Additionally, it has been working to clean up and improve the community, which was lacking during previous ownership, said Jason Nocher, owner of Nocher Realty, which has been hired to help sell the units. 
 
View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories