Month: July 2015

WEST SPRINGFIELD — MassDOT is constructing improvements to two overpasses carrying Memorial Avenue over Route 5 in West Springfield. The last 79-hour shutdown is planned for Friday, July 10 at 10 p.m. through Tuesday, July 14 at 5 a.m.

MassDOT has developed several detour routes to maintain traffic during the weekend closure/replacement of the westbound bridge of the Memorial Avenue rotary. These detours are designed to reduce congestion and provide a feasible route for larger vehicles. During this 79-hour shutdown, MassDOT will close the following roads starting at 10 p.m. on Friday, July 10, for the westbound bridge replacement:

• All traffic on the Memorial Bridge (east and westbound);

• Route 5 northbound between the North End Bridge (Route 20) and the South End Bridge (Route 57); vehicles may access the Bondi’s Island transfer-station facility;

• Route 5 north and southbound ramps to Memorial Avenue eastbound; and

• Sidewalks on the westbound bridge.

All roads will reopen to traffic at 5 a.m. on Tuesday, July 14. A notification will be sent when these roads are reopened. In the meantime, signs will direct vehicles to several detours throughout West Springfield and neighboring communities.

Pedestrians and bicyclists should note that access will be provided to the sidewalks and unmarked crosswalks on the eastbound bridge and southern portion of the rotary. Bicyclists should dismount and walk their bikes on the sidewalks. Pedestrians coming from the northern sidewalks on the Memorial Bridge or Memorial Avenue in West Springfield should cross to the southern sidewalks prior to entering the rotary.

For more information about the project, visit www.mass.gov/massdot/memorialavenuerotaryreplacement.

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Park Square Realty announced the opening of its West Springfield office, located at 470 Westfield St.

Ted Cassell, president of Park Square Realty, purchased the building this past spring and renovated the space, which includes ample desk space for agents, two conference rooms, areas for management and support staff, new signage with landscaping, and a new kitchen area.

“The new office location provides our agents with a professional work environment to conduct their business and meet with their home buyers and sellers,” said Cassell. “In addition, the move to West Springfield allows us to raise our visibility by being on the highly traveled Route 20 in West Springfield. We are very excited to be part of the vibrant community of West Springfield. It offers a central location for our agents to work from and gives convenient access to all points in Western Massachusetts.”

Park Square Realty is a locally owned, full-service real-estate company founded in 1987. The company continues to grow in terms of number of agents and sales volume, now boasting 48 real-estate professionals working throughout the Western Mass. and Northern Conn. regions.

HOLYOKE — River Valley Counseling Center (RVCC), a member of Valley Health Systems and affiliate to Holyoke Medical Center, announced the appointment of Rosemarie Ansel as executive director.

Ansel’s executive leadership includes demonstrable experience in leading administrative, fiscal, and clinical functions in the community outpatient setting.

“Rosemarie is a skilled senior executive who brings a proven track record in clinical, educational, and medical programming to this important role. Her strong working relationships at the state and national levels will help RVCC enhance the delivery of quality mental-health services to the communities we serve,” said Spiros Hatiras, president and CEO of Valley Health Systems and Holyoke Medical Center.

Added Ansel, “I am honored to join the River Valley Counseling Center, which is dedicated to providing a wide range of compassionate, community-centered care to individuals and families in our region. Under the Holyoke Medical Center umbrella, we have a strong and pervasive sense of community. This carries over into our team of clinicians and staff, who are second to none when it comes to providing mission-critical services on a 24/7 basis.”

Ansel will lead RVCC, a multi-service agency serving Hampden County for 62 years. Its community-focused outpatient mental-health services include psychiatric day treatment programs, school-based services in Chicopee, teen clinics and school-based health centers in Holyoke, individual and group-based therapy offered in Spanish as well as English, HIV/AIDS support for both men and women, intensive case management, and recreational therapy for 8- to 16-year-old children at risk of hospitalization or residential placement, as well as employer-assistance services through site training, assessment, counseling, and referrals. The center provided 144,000 treatment services across all programs in 2013.

In her most recent role as deputy director of Community Services and director of Operations at the Columbia County Department of Human Services and Mental Health Center in Hudson, N.Y., Ansel oversaw the administrative, fiscal, and clinical components of a community outpatient mental-health clinic. Her leadership resulted in a 23% increase in direct client contacts by the end of the first fiscal year, a 46% increase in clinic-based revenue in 16 months, an increase in the client average daily census by 600 individuals in four years, as well as a 61% increase in co-payments. Prior to her success in this role, Ansel served as deputy for Administration at Berkshire Farm Center and Services for Youth in Canaan, N.Y. and executive vice president at Hillcrest Educational Centers in Pittsfield.

PITTSFIELD — Hillcrest Commons Nursing and Rehabilitation Center will offer an informational session on advance directives and healthcare proxies on Wednesday, July 29 at 10 a.m. at the Ralph Froio Senior Center in Pittsfield. The event will include a free continental breakfast.

Part of Hillcrest’s “Berkshire Senior Subjects” monthly series, the presentation will focus on advance directives, healthcare proxies, and MOLST forms. The guest speaker is Patricia Tremblay, MS, RN. The presentation is free and open to the public; registration is requested by calling (413) 445-9747 by July 27.

Hillcrest Commons Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, a nonprofit organization that has been caring for people in the Berkshire area since 1995, provides personalized short-term rehabilitation, long-term skilled-nursing care, respite care, and specialized Alzheimer’s and dementia care, all in a homelike setting. Specialty services include a ventilator program to support ventilator-dependent patients or to wean dependence, and a behavioral-health program for those with chronic psychiatric conditions. Hospice services are available for compassionate end-of-life care. For more information, visit www.hillcrestcommons.org.

SPRINGFIELD — Luxe Burger Bar announced the return of its Build Your Own Burger contest. Through Aug. 30, Luxe calls upon its guests to craft the burger of their dreams for the chance to win a $500 Chow Fun Food Group gift card. The winning burger will also be featured on Luxe Burger Bar’s menu until the next winner is announced in 2016.

“We are excited to bring our Build Your Own Burger contest to Springfield for the second time,” said John Elkhay, Maestro, Chow Fun Food Group. “We have held this event at our Providence restaurant for four years, and each year we receive hundreds of creative entries from our guests. We can’t wait to see what our guests in Greater Springfield come up with.”

To participate, contestants fill out an entry form at the restaurant or at www.springfield.luxeburgerbar.com/contest. The masterpiece possibilities are endless, with an array of over 45 ingredients, in addition to two original selections not already offered on the menu.

On Aug. 31, the entries will be reviewed, and the top five contestants will have their burgers featured on the Luxe menu from Sept. 4 through Oct. 8. After deliberation and feedback, the top five contestants will be invited to the contest’s finale on Saturday, Oct. 10 at noon at Luxe Burger, where a panel of culinary and celebrity judges will evaluate each submission’s creativity, taste, edibility, ease of production, overall composition, and the given title. Final scoring will be determined by a combination of each burger’s Facebook ‘likes,’ total sales throughout the month, and the judges’ opinions.

For more information about Luxe Burger Bar or to make a reservation, call (413) 758-5893 or visit www.luxeburgerbar.com.

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bankers Assoc. (MBA) has elected 13 executives to serve on its board of directors, including James Lively, president and CEO of Bridgewater Savings Bank, as MBA chairman for a one-year term.

Other new MBA board members from banks with a Western Mass. presence include Michael Lee, managing director of Santander Bank; Steven Lowell, president
 of Monson Savings Bank; Charles O’Brien, president of Adams Community Bank; and Patrick Sullivan, president 
of People’s United Bank.

“This is a fantastic group of leaders,” said Daniel Forte, president and CEO of the MBA. “As an industry, we are faced with new challenges nearly every day that require thoughtful leadership. This group of individuals is up to the task of guiding the banking industry in Massachusetts into what promises to be yet another year where we see complex challenges, and those that are rewarding too.”

Founded in 1905, the Massachusetts Bankers Assoc. represents approximately 170 commercial, savings, and cooperative banks and savings-and-loan associations in Massachusetts and elsewhere in 
New England. Banking began in Massachusetts in 1784.

WESTFIELD — The trustees of Baystate Health and Noble Hospital announced that Noble and its affiliated entities are now part of Baystate Health.

As of July 1, the hospital will be known as Baystate Noble Hospital and will join Baystate’s team of community hospitals in Greenfield, Palmer, and Ware. Ronald Bryant, currently president and CEO of Noble Hospital, will accept the position of president of Baystate Noble Hospital, in accordance with Baystate Health’s structure for its community-hospital leadership. Bryant will report to Dennis Chalke, senior vice president of Community Hospitals for Baystate Health.

“We’re proud to welcome Noble and its team members to the Baystate family and to bring their proud tradition of outstanding, compassionate care into our organization,” said Dr. Mark Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health. “Now, we’ll move on to the most important part of this change: advancing the quality, access, and value of care provided to the Westfield community.”

As president of Baystate Noble, Bryant will continue to provide strategic, executive, and operational leadership for the hospital, which offers a variety of inpatient and outpatient services including medical, surgical, pulmonary rehabilitation, cardiac, and emergency services for more than 100,000 local residents.

“For me, this is a new phase and an extension of an already-strong relationship,” said Bryant. “From heart-attack care to neurosciences to obstetrics, the Noble community has a long-standing and thriving relationship with Baystate Health. I’m honored to be able to play a part in this new relationship — and step forward — in service of the Westfield community’s health.”

Added Chalke, “Ron has led Noble to success in the most challenging of environments for community hospitals. We’re very pleased to work with him as we continue our efforts to provide as much care as possible close to home, effectively and efficiently, for our communities in Western Massachusetts.”

Baystate continues its tradition of upholding the histories of partner organizations that endure in their names, Chalke noted. “We’re very pleased to honor the memory of Reuben Noble and continue to provide the outstanding care that patients have come to expect from Noble.”

Bryant earned his undergraduate degree from Assumption College and has a master’s degree in health administration from St. Joseph’s College. He also is a licensed certified public accountant. He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Mass. Hospital Assoc. board of trustees.

Noble has about 750 employees who will join Baystate Health’s team of 11,500 across Western Mass. Noble Hospital trustees Robert Bacon and Harriet DeVerry will join the Baystate Health board of trustees as representatives of Noble and its community. Baystate Noble will not retain a separate board of trustees.

Noble Hospital has served the Greater Westfield community since 1893, when Westfield native Reuben Noble bequeathed a large portion of his estate to establish a local hospital. The original hospital had 20 beds and was staffed by eight physicians. The Nurses’ Training School opened in 1905 and graduated 144 nurses before closing in 1936. In 1958, a new hospital was built featuring updated facilities and equipment. Noble Hospital has seen many changes in its 122 years, including new service lines, state-of-the-art medical enhancements, and facility additions and improvements.

The new Baystate Noble Hospital name and logo will be integrated into all signage and materials in the weeks to come. The Noble Visiting Nurse & Hospice logo has also been updated to reflect its connection to Baystate Health.

SPRINGFIELD — On Thursday, July 2, the Adam Wright Show on WHYN, 560 AM, will air live from Springfield’s iconic Fort, as the restaurant will open for the first time for breakfast.

Business and community leaders are encouraged to attend. One special guest will be U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, who will host a separate talk for attendees at 8 a.m. The show airs from 6 to 9 a.m., and breakfast will be served throughout.

PITTSFIELD — Nearly 350 Berkshire Bank employees completed more than 20 community-service projects as part of the bank’s company-wide week of service June 8-12.

The week of service is an expansion of the bank’s successful day of service that took place in previous years. The 2015 week of service represented the highest number of employee participants and most projects undertaken during a single week in the company’s history.

The series of projects benefitted nonprofit organizations and communities across Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. Local Berkshire Bank employees, who serve as leaders of the company’s XTEAM volunteer program, selected and organized the projects in their markets. This year’s activities in Western Mass. included:

• Great Barrington: 15 employees undertook a series of improvement projects alongside the Trustees of Reservations at Monument Mountain. Projects included mulching the trailheads, painting the visitor kiosk, and painting the new visitor hut.

• Pittsfield: 40 employees undertook a series of projects at Hancock Shaker Village to assist in public-access, public-safety, and visitor-experience improvements throughout the property, which included repairing and repainting the iconic white fence, painting the historic woodshed, and rebuilding the boardwalk.

• South Hadley: five employees helped organize the Birthday Wishes supply room, making it easier for volunteers to locate needed items. Birthday Wishes provides birthday parties to children living in transitional housing.

• Springfield: 20 employees helped with a series of beautification projects at the Zoo at Forest Park to improve the ascetic appearance for visitors. Projects included planting flowers, weeding, and mulching throughout the zoo.

• Springfield: 15 employees helped construct a new home for a local family in need in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Springfield. Employees also presented Habitat with a check for the funds raised through Berkshire Bank Foundation’s Hockey 4 Housing campaign with NESN.

“We were so pleased to give back in this meaningful way through our company-wide effort,” said Lori Gazzillo, vice president and director of Berkshire Bank Foundation. “We’re proud of our employees’ involvement and the growth of our volunteer day into a week dedicated to service, which speaks to our values as a company and commitment to making a difference in our community.”