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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
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“It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.” — ROBERT H. GODDARD
THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2016
VOL. 85 NO. 23
75 cents
Baystate Noble patients consider legal action By STEPHANIE McFEETERS @mcfeeters Daily Hampshire Gazette WESTFIELD — Kathy Pitoniak wasn’t too keen on the idea of a colonoscopy but, as a screening doctors recommend to everyone above 50, she figured it was a necessary step and “rite of passage.” Her 2012 procedure showed no cause for concern. Three years later, the Westfield woman is waiting for the results of another test, an unexpected follow-up exam that has stoked a whole new set of anxieties. Pitoniak, 54, was one of 293 patients who received a letter last week from Baystate Noble Hospital in Westfield informing her that she may have been exposed to blood-borne pathogens that could put her at risk of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Due to a lapse in disinfection procedure, the medical devices used in some colonoscopies between June 2012 and April 2013 were inadequately cleaned. “I was shocked. I was angry,” Pitoniak said. “I just went in for a routine exam with no risk involved, and next thing you
know I’m getting a letter like that in the mail.” Hospital officials have stressed that the risk is low, and are offering free screening to patients. Pitoniak went to Noble on Saturday and was given a blood test; she expects her results Thursday. As someone who frequently donates blood to the Red Cross, Pitoniak said she isn’t too worried about the screening results coming back positive, because she believes the organization would have detected an illness in her donated blood. What’s particularly frustrating, Pitoniak said, is that the hospital did not notify patients in April 2013 when it changed its cleaning procedure. “It just pisses me off,” she said. “They knew about it and they swept it under the rug.” It remains unclear how the medical devices were initiated into the hospital’s procedures in June 2012, and what, if any, training staff was given at the time. It is also unclear what hospital officials knew in April 2013, when they received new equipment and training, and why they did not notify patients then. Noble joined
Baystate Health in July 2015. So far, Baystate officials have apologized and explained that the disinfection lapse resulted from a missing adapter that meant one part of its colonoscopes was not sufficiently sterilized. A state inspection in December 2015 uncovered the lapse and potential risks. It was an employee complaint that prompted the Massachusetts Department of Public Health visit, DPH spokesman Scott Zoback said. He wrote in an email Wednesday that “this is an open investigation, and we continue to actively monitor the situation.” ‘People are scared’ As screenings continue and patients process the news, some are considering suing the hospital. “People are scared,” said Springfield attorney Ryan Alekman, who said his firm Alekman DiTusa has been meeting with clients since Sunday about the Noble incident. He estimated he and his partner will have advised 20 patients by the end See Legal Action, Page 3
Kathleen Pitoniak at her home in Westfield.
(Photo by Carol
Lollis)
Residents have say on Western Avenue improvements By DENNIS HOHENBERGER Correspondent WESTFIELD – The City of Westfield and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) held a public forum on “Rethinking Western Ave.” The public was invited to speak on the planned construction, which includes a multi-use bike and pedestrian lane. City Engineer Mark Cressotti said the construction will run from Laurel Drive to Lloyds Hill then east to Baystate Noble Hospital. The City of Westfield is currently at the 25 percent design submission phase with MassDOT. He said discussion on improving the traffic and pedestrian flow has been ongoing for over a dozen years. The approval process for the project was accelerated after the state transferred funds originally slated for Westfield State University to the Western Avenue project, which has been fast-tracked by the Commonwealth.
The city and MassDot held previous public meetings on the project. He said the meeting, including Tuesday night’s forum, educates the public on the project’s scope and how it will impact residents. The City of Westfield and MassDOT reached a consensus on design, he said. The plans are currently under review and Cressotti did not provide a start date for the construction. After an initial review, MassDOT called for more accommodations regarding bike and foot traffic or setting aside a multi-use trail away from vehicles. He added the multi-use lanes are currently state and federal priorities. “It encourages that kind of use,” he said. The lanes were not included in the original submission to MassDOT. Western Avenue, he said, has a host of problems, including pavement, poor drainage and traffic
flow, and two cyclist fatalities in the last five years. The project will concentrate initially on the central portion of Western Avenue, followed by the eastern section two years later. The city received $2.5 million of federal highway funding for the project. If the city favors the multiuse trail, additional highway funding may be made available, according to Cressotti. He envisions the trail eventually connecting into a trail along the Westfield River. Tuesday’s meeting was well attended, as were previous forums. “It’s very much an interest for the neighborhood and for the area,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll move forward because we don’t have a lot of time.” During the public phase of the hearing, George Michael, of 2 Overlook Drive, asked if the project plans included changing the speed limit along the avenue, which currently averages 40 miles per hour.
“A lot of people drive over the speed limit. That is something we should consider,” he said. He also wants more traffic enforcement along Western Avenue. “It needs to be beefed up there. I’m not talking about harassment or making money by issuing a bunch of tickets. There’s a dearth of enforcement at the present time,” he said. The current design incorporates traffic-calming measures, said Cressotti. He did agree with Michael that the posted speed limit is “not
respected” by drivers. While the design does not reduce the speed limit, the design parameters should have some affect on driving speeds. Luciano Rabito, a project manager with MassDOT, said altering the speeds on Western Avenue could “open a can of worms.” A new traffic study, he said, could actually call for raising the speeds, creating the opposite desired effect. Jay Ducharme, of 265 Western See Western Avenue, Page 3
State Senator Downing plans to remain vocal By AMY PORTER Correspondent Earlier this week, State Senator Benjamin Downing announced he will not seek re-election to a sixth term in November. Downing serves 52 communities of western Mass. in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties (including Chester, Huntington and Blandford), the largest geographical district in the Senate. In his announcement, Downing, who has served since 2007, said that he had promised himself he would not serve more than ten years. His plan now is to be vocal for the 52 communities he serves, for broadband access, energy policy and other ongoing priorities over the next 11 months. “I don’t plan on closing my mouth now that I said I’m not
running,” he said. At 34, Downing is the third youngest member of the Senate. “This is the first term I haven’t been the youngest member of the Senate,” he said. He thinks his youth has brought a different perspective and fresh energy to the job. Calling himself a “digital native,” he said he has been better able to communicate through technology and social media. This perspective also holds true when speaking of the challenges in his district. “We shouldn’t be too focused on the way things used to be,” he said, adding that he heard that a lot when he was growing up in Pittsfield. “Pushed a lot of good people out of the county,” he said. He said the populations of
the rural towns in westernn Mass. are getting older, smaller and poorer. These demographics present a real challenge, which he said is showing up first in the challenges facing the schools on how to remain sustainable, both in terms of economics and educational opportunities. Downing said his district encompasses parts of 19 school districts spread out over the 52 communities. “You don’t need 19 central offices to provide education for a population of 160,000,” he said. He sees the future of education on two different paths for the region. In the short term, a shared service model that seeks to answer the question of how to use money more efficiently. For example, if someone is leaving a position
in a neighboring district, look at sharing that position. “How do we support the immediate sharing of services?” he said. The second path is to come up with a regional plan around education. That itself presents huge problems. Downing said in the Berkshires it’s a little easier, because the school district lines are drawn by county lines, whereas Gateway, for example, has member towns in both Hampden and Hampshire counties. Downing said there is no way for every district to comfortably say who is going to make the decisions or whether they should be made on a hyperlocal or state level. In reality, Downing said, the district he serves represents only 1/40th of the state in population. While the issues are “incredibly impor-
tant,” they do not even rank on the top ten of educational priorities for the state, presenting a real challenge for district legislators. Another issue of importance to him is broadband access. “Broadband access has been a priority of mine the entire time I’ve been in office,” Downing said, expressing frustration that it is not yet complete in the region. “If it had been done five years ago it wouldn’t have been soon enough for me.” He said he is “100 percent confident” that with the resources and plans in place for the last mile, whether through WiredWest, MBI or individual communities, “in two to three years there won’t be a home that wants it that doesn’t have it.”
BENJAMIN DOWNING State Senator (D- Pittsfield) Just last week, the Senate under Downing’s leadership passed an act authorizing the town of Mount Washington to establish, own, and operate broadband infrastructure and services. Mount Washington, which has 140 residents, plans to build a town-owned, modern, fiber-to-the-home network to provide high speed Internet access to its residents. Downing said broadband is See Downing, age 3