Berkshire Visiting Nurse Association Earns Patient Satisfaction Award

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PITTSFIELD, Mass.  — The Berkshire Visiting Nurse Association has been recognized by Strategic Healthcare Programs (SHP) as a "Superior Performer" for achieving an overall patient satisfaction score that ranked in the top 20 percent of all eligible SHP clients for the 2022 calendar year.
 
The annual SHPBest award program was created to acknowledge home health agencies that consistently provide high quality service to their patients. The 2022 award recipients were determined by reviewing and ranking the overall satisfaction score for more than 3,200 home health providers. With the largest HHCAHPS benchmark in the nation, SHP is in a unique position to identify and recognize organizations that have made patient satisfaction a priority and have been rewarded for their efforts with high marks on the HHCAHPS survey.
 
"SHP is very excited to have the opportunity to recognize the hard work and dedication of our top-performing customers with the annual SHPBest awards. We commend these organizations for their determination to provide top-notch care to the patients and caregivers that they serve", said Kevin Vogel, President of SHP.
 
"We deeply value our skilled and compassionate staff at the Berkshire VNA, and we are proud that this team has been nationally recognized for the excellent care that they provide to patients in our community," said Darlene Rodowicz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Berkshire Health Systems.
 
"Our clinicians at the Berkshire VNA are proud of the care they provide to our community, and this honor is truly deserved," said Priti Shah, Administrative Director of the Berkshire VNA. 
 
Read more about the SHPBest awards program, including methodology and award recipient lists at https://www.shpdata.com/home-health/shpbest-hhcahps.

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Berkshire Planning Commission Approves 'Conservative' FY25 Budget

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Regional Planning Commission has a "conservative" budget for fiscal year 2025 with a nearly 6 percent increase.

On Thursday, the commission approved a $6,640,005 budget for FY25, a $373,990 increase from the previous year.  The spending plan saw less growth from FY24 to FY25, as the FY23 to FY24 increase was more than $886,000, or over 16 percent.

Executive Director Thomas Matuszko said there aren't any dramatic changes.  

"This is very much different than a municipal budget in that it's not a controlling budget or a limiting budget," he said. "It is really just our best estimate of our ability to afford to operate."

The increase is largely due to new grants for public health programs, environmental and energy efforts, economic development, community planning, and the transportation program.

"We have a lot of grants and a lot of applications in. If any of those are awarded, which I'm sure there's going to be many of them, we would shift gears and if we have to add staff or direct expenses, we would," office manager Marianne Sniezek explained.

"But the budget that we have now is conservative and it covers all our expenses."

The budget was endorsed by the finance and executive committee before reaching the full planning commission.

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