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Pool Testing in Lanesborough-Williamstown Schools Yields Negatives

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School District on Thursday completed a successful first week of pool testing for COVID-19 among its students and staff.
 
"It's amazing how empowering it is for a child to see they just did something with something the size of a Q-tip that has the power to determine if a virus is in them so they can take care of themselves and their family and their friends," Business Manager Joe Begeron told the School Committee on Thursday night. "Every student I saw today had a really positive experience, a really positive outlook for what this means."
 
Mount Greylock was one of the first districts to sign up and take advantage of a state-sponsored pool testing program. Essentially, samples (non-invasive nasal swabs) from a batch of individuals are bundled together into a single sample that is analyzed in the lab.
 
If the batched sample turns up negative, then all the contributors to the sample are assumed negative. If a batched sample tests positive, further tests are ordered for individuals who were part of that batch.
 
"Tuesday and today were our testing days this week," Bergeron said. "Next week, we'll be testing on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. We've tried to align with the same days of the week that [Williams College] has its courier service running to the laboratory in Cambridge. The college has been a great partner in this and has extended their help in sharing that resource, that courier service, with us, which is a huge help.
 
"So far, we've had all negative test results, which is fantastic. That's from our first week with staff only prior to break, and we received our results for Tuesday's testing late last night, and it was all negative for everyone who participated."
 
Bergeron reported that as of Thursday, about 700 of the district's 1,100 students had opted in to the program. And he expects more families to sign the permission forms that will allow their children to be tested.
 
"When you say 'test,' everyone recoils a little bit," Bergeron said. "But the way our staff was able to work with students to make it part of the school day, make it quick but make it something positive we're doing for the community at large was awesome.
 
"That's a long way to say I think participation will go up."
 
Superintendent Jason McCandless credited Bergeron and the school nurses at Lanesborough Elementary School, Williamstown Elementary and Mount Greylock Regional School for developing the logistical plan to make communitywide testing possible.
 
"The application process was arduous," McCandless said. "The organization of it was a massive undertaking, and it was really Joe and our three school nurses and school principals. Joe, Nicole [Russell], Kathy [Larson] and Carol [Stein-Payne], our school nurse team did a massive amount of work in rolling up their sleeves and making this possible.
 
"Joe and the three school nurses are heroes."
 
Bergeron praised teamwork needed to coordinate tests across the district's three schools, using venues that ranged from the classroom to the playground during mask breaks to drive-up testing.
 
He said staff and students who are participating in school remotely are welcome and encouraged to participate in the testing program.
 
"The nurses pulled out all the stops, and when we asked for participation from the staff, the staff was really excited about it," Bergeron said. "It's yet another thing we're asking staff to figure out that's new and certainly not normal. Across all three buildings, it's been amazing."

Tags: COVID-19,   MGRSD,   testing,   


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SVHC President Dee Announces Retirement

BENNINGTON, Vt. — Thomas A. Dee is retiring this year after 16 years at the helm of Southwestern Vermont Health Care.
 
Dee has had a significant impact on the Southern Vermont medical center, overseeing its affiliation with Dartmouth Health, expanding access to care services through telehealth and offices in outlying communities, and steering the new $31 million emergency room expansion to fruition last year. 
 
The CEO and president of the health care system said he plans to retire at the end of 2025 and a search committee has been formed to seek his replacement.
 
"It is with mixed emotions that I take this next step in my life," Dee said. "After 45 years in healthcare leadership, I can honestly say that my time at Southwestern Vermont Health Care has been some of the most formative, fulfilling and, at times, humbling work in my career. SVHC has an amazing team of individuals, who care deeply about the patients and families we serve."
 
Tom Green, chair of the Board of Trustees will co-chair the executive search committee, along with other key leaders at SVHC and Dartmouth Health.
 
"Tom Dee's extraordinary leadership has been transformative and has catapulted our community hospital into one with a statewide and national spotlight that has five consecutive recognitions as a Magnet Hospital for Nursing Excellence and the American Hospital Association's Rural Hospital Leadership Award," said Green. "He has always taken a hands-on approach to enhancing patient care and experience, while consistently supporting the superb providers, nurses and staff that make it all possible. While Tom leaves big shoes to fill, he has built a highly talented leadership team and is leaving SVHC in a strong position for our next leader."
 
Dee led SVHC through its initial affiliation with what was then known as Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health in 2012, and the integration with the Dartmouth Health system in 2023. He also guided Southwestern Vermont Medical Center through massive transformations, including the building of the new emergency department and front entrance, as well as impending plans for a new cancer center and an inpatient adolescent mental health unit. He has also played a key role in economic development in Bennington, specifically with the redevelopment plans for the former Southern Vermont College campus and the downtown Putnam project.
 
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