BHS Receives Outpatient Joint Replacement Excellence Award

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Medical Center (BMC) announced that it has been recognized as a 2024 Outpatient Joint Replacement Excellence Award recipient by Healthgrades, the leading resource consumers use to find a hospital or doctor. 
 
According to a press release, this achievement, along with being a 5-Star recipient for Outpatient Total Knee Replacement for 2 consecutive years (2023-2024), reflects the organization's dedication to clinical excellence and distinguishes Berkshire Medical Center as one of the nation's leading hospitals for outpatient joint replacement. BMC is one of 152 hospitals nationwide to receive the Joint Replacement Excellence Award.
 
"Excellence is a hallmark of BMC's orthopedic care," said Darlene Rodowicz, president & CEO of Berkshire Health Systems (BHS). "Our community can count on our team's continuous commitment to providing the highest quality care for our joint replacement patients, so they can get back to being active and enjoying the activities they love without pain."
 
"This national recognition is validation of the team approach to exceptional care that Berkshire Medical Center and Berkshire Orthopaedic Associates commit to for every patient, every encounter, every day," said James Lederer, MD, BHS Chief Medical Officer/Chief Quality Officer. "Using state-of-the-art technology and with the vast experience and expertise of our clinical team, BHS provides the Berkshire community with access to joint care that is second to none."
 
To identify the top-performing hospitals for outpatient joint replacement, Healthgrades analyzed patient outcomes at short-term acute care facilities nationwide that offer knee and hip replacement in an outpatient environment. Healthgrades' analysis found that patients treated at hospitals that have been recognized for excellence in outpatient joint replacement have a demonstrably better chance at a smooth recovery than those treated at hospitals that were not recognized by Healthgrades. This includes:
 
  • Patients treated at hospitals that received a 2024 Outpatient Joint Replacement Specialty Excellence Award have, on average, approximately 38 percent lower risk of experiencing a complication than if they were treated at non-recipient hospitals.
  • If all hospitals performed similarly to those receiving five stars, over 20,000 complications could have been avoided.

(Statistics are based on Healthgrades analysis of SAF data for years 2020 through 2022 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only. For more information on how Healthgrades identifies the nation’s top hospitals for outpatient joint replacement, see the 2024 Outpatient Specialty Excellence Awards and Ratings Methodology.)

"Our clinical team is committed to attaining the best outcomes for all of our patients needing joint replacement surgery," said Kevin Mitts, MD, Berkshire Orthopaedic Associates. "All of us are proud to be a part of this and work together to ensure the highest standards."
 
"Berkshire Medical Center exemplifies what it means to be a leader in outpatient orthopedics by delivering consistently superior outcomes across key outpatient procedures," said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer and head of Data Science at Healthgrades. "Patients undergoing outpatient joint replacement at Berkshire Health Systems should feel confident in their decision to seek care from a facility with top marks in their procedure."
 
As outpatient surgical volumes continue to grow, Healthgrades is proud to offer the industry's only outcomes-based outpatient ratings to help patients identify the best care for their needs. Consumers can visit Healthgrades.com to learn more about how Healthgrades measures hospital quality.
 

Tags: BHS,   BMC,   

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Downtown Pittsfield Inc. Celebrates a Bustling 2023

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Downtown Pittsfield Inc. Director Rebecca Brien is credited with the vibrancy seen downtown, including 23 new businesses in the past year. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — This past year has been a "whirlwind of activity" for Downtown Pittsfield Inc., according Director Rebecca Brien.

DPI held its annual meeting at the Berkshire Museum on Thursday, touting the 17 businesses welcomed to the downtown in 2023 and six so far this year.

In preparing for the event, Brien referred to her first project with the 230-member organization for inspiration: the strategic plan.

"We envision downtown as a place that welcomes people, businesses, and events to join a diverse, vibrant, and bustling district. Our goal is to strengthen and promote our members through advocacy, collaboration, and celebration," she said.

"It was then that I realized that in this past year, with support from our partners, our board, our members, and our community, that the DPI team has been every day doing just those things"

She highlighted the recent myriad successful DPI events such as the Let It Shine! celebration of public art, the It's Alive! Halloween block party, the 10x10 Restaurant Week, and Downtown Celebrates Spring Week.

"The Heart of the Berkshire's marketing is working this year. The Love Pittsfield Downtown and Beyond guidebooks have increased to 10,000 copies being printed because we ran out and they are getting distributed throughout the county," Brien added.

"Our website is the hub for all news downtown and followers on our Facebook, Instagram, and the expanding DPI app grow every day. At this point, our weekly newsletter is so full that it may qualify as a small novel."

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