North Adams Regional Hospital is an 18-bed critical access hospital that reopened in March 2024, exactly 10 years after its closure under previous ownership. Its comeback restored essential healthcare access to Northern Berkshire County. The reopening was made possible through the hospital’s reclassification as a critical access hospital under updated 2023 regulatory guidelines, and since then it has offered 24/7 emergency department coverage, 18 inpatient beds and swing units for rehabilitation-level care, which help rural residents avoid transfers to nursing home facilities. The hospital supports this care with physical and occupational therapy and holds a geriatric certification in the emergency department to facilitate mobility evaluations and referrals. Patients also have access to specialists from its parent system, Pittsfield, Mass.-based Berkshire Health Systems, filling a substantial gap for the rural population. The hospital’s impact on the regional economy and healthcare infrastructure earned it a 2025 “MassEcon Impact Award Gold,” recognizing its role in job creation and community revitalization. The Joint Commission has awarded the hospital its “Gold Seal of Approval” and designated it an “Acute Stroke Ready Hospital,” and the American Heart Association recognized it with four “Get With the Guidelines” awards in 2025 covering rural coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke categories.
