Concerned Residents, Community Leaders and Workers from North Adams to Board Buses on Tuesday, April 15 for a Trip to the State House to Deliver Petitions to the Governor and Other State Leaders Seeking Restoration of a Full Service Hospital for this Embattled Community

The Group Will Also Make a Stop at MEMA Headquarters in Framingham In a Call for Emergency Response to the Health Care Disaster caused by the Illegal Closing of the Hospital Which has Left 38,000 Residents With NO Access to Needed Services

News provided by

Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United

Apr 11, 2014, 01:07 ET

NORTH ADAMS, Mass., April 11, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being released by MNA/NNU:

When : Buses will depart from the American Legion parking lot, 91 American Legion Drive in North Adams at 8 a.m.

Residents will visit MEMA Headquarters, 400 Worcester Rd, Framingham at 10:30 a.m.

Residents will reach State House at 12 noon, community members will proceed to the Governor's office to deliver petitions, followed by visits to the Speaker of the House and Senate President

At 5 p.m., the members of the community will gather again at the American Legion Hall in North Adams for an update on the status of the efforts to save the hospital

Editors' Note: Media Members are Welcome to Ride the Buses for this Event. Contact David Schildmeier at [email protected] or 781-249-0430 to Reserve a Seat

As the 38,000 residents of Northern Berkshire County enter their fourth week with no access to desperately needed health care services following the illegal closing of North Adams Regional Hospital, concerned members of the community will be boarding buses from North Adams on April 15 to deliver petitions with more than 10,000 signatures to the Governor and other legislative leaders in Boston, calling for immediate restoration of a full service hospital for this embattled community.

On the way to Boston, the group will make a stop at Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) headquarters in Framingham, to demonstrate the need for a more concerted state effort to address what is a health care disaster in Northern Berkshire County. MEMA was recently activated to respond to a cell tower falling down in North Adams, but there has been no similar response for this crisis.

Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest professional health care organization and the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. The MNA is a founding member of National Nurses United, the largest national nurses union in the United States with more than 170,000 members from coast to coast.

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SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United