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The cold storage will be located at the North Adams Campus of Berkshire Medical Center.

Berkshire Bounty Opens North County Cold Storage at BMC North

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Berkshire Bounty opened new cold storage units at the North Adams Campus of Berkshire Medical Center in a collaboration with Berkshire Health Systems.
 
This project, funded by the state through the Food Security Infrastructure Grant (FSIG) program, is part of a countywide effort to strengthen the local and regional food system through a collaborative effort, which will expand local food production, storage and delivery systems that bring fresh and healthy locally grown food to the food insecure community.
 
"Berkshire Bounty works closely with Berkshire Grown and several other community organizations to implement a robust, resilient layer within the regional food system that provides an essential link between farmers and food access organizations and moves healthy food from farm to table. We have proven this system is sustainable and can withstand ongoing food system challenges. This cold storage facility is a necessary component to addressing food system gaps in North Berkshire County," states Morgan Ovitsky, Executive Director of Berkshire Bounty, a 501(c)3 food rescue organization.
 
A cold storage facility will act as a depot for local farmers to deliver meat, dairy, eggs and produce to a central location where it will be aggregated, stored, and delivered to participating food distribution organization partners in North Adams, Adams, Williamstown and surrounding towns. This project will also provide safe cold storage for North Berkshire food distribution sites in desperate need of additional storage for fresh, healthy products.
 
"Our pantry is small and has no more additional space for refrigeration. We welcome the option of overflow storage to increase our capacity to distribute more food to our friends in North Adams, Clarksburg and Florida." said Fran Berasi, Vice President of the Al Nelson Friendship Center Food Pantry.
                                          
The location of the facility, behind the North Adams campus of Berkshire Medical Center, is through a partnership with BHS to provide a secure source of power and safe access. BHS is hosting and providing the cost of powering the storage units.
 
"Food security is a major health challenge that impacts families in North Berkshire and across the region," said Darlene Rodowicz, President and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems. "At BHS, we know that much of a person's overall health is impacted by conditions that exist beyond the four walls of a healthcare facility-- like their availability to access nutritious food or safe, affordable housing.  We are thrilled to be able to partner with Berkshire Bounty as part of our mission to advance health and wellness of everyone in our community by helping to create this new food storage location that will expand access to fresh, healthy food for residents of North County."
 
 
 

Tags: BHS,   BMC,   food bank,   

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Berkshire Health Group Sets 16% Health Insurance Hike for FY26

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Health insurance costs for employees in 25 towns and six regional school districts will rise by 16 percent in fiscal year 2026.
 
The board of the Berkshire Health Group on Monday morning voted to increase the rate for the year that begins on July 1 by that amount, a move that is sure to color budget conversations in all of the municipal entities that participate in the joint purchase group.
 
The 7-3 vote followed a lengthy discussion about the factors driving up the cost of health care, the impact those costs are having on similar municipal and private health insurance providers and the need to maintain a healthy reserve for Berkshire Health Group.
 
As recently as three years ago, at the end of fiscal year 2021, the BHG surplus stood at just more than $22 million. For the current fiscal year, it is projected to be a little less than $12 million, according to one of the documents presented at Monday's board meeting.
 
And higher costs continue to eat away at that number.
 
"The health fund lost over a million dollars in the month of November," BHG Treasurer Jim Kelley told the group assembled in the conference room at McCann Tech.
 
Kelley told the board that 15 or 20 years ago, the group had $5 million in investments, but after two consecutive years of seeing costs outrun premiums by around 20 percent, the group needed to send a special assessment to its membership during a fiscal year.
 
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