Here are some brief thoughts on recent happenings in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region.
It’s like launching a new college. Actually, it is a new college — a graduate school of family medicine — and it’s in the birth throes at Baystate Franklin Medical Center. Like any college (most recently, Thomas Aquinas College in Northfield), the timeline from conception to opening day is measured in years and can’t be rushed. The program has to be funded, a curriculum developed and accredited, faculty recruited and, finally, candidates — i.e., students — admitted.
As colleges go, it would be very small — 12 residencies is the projection — but as an economic powerhouse, its impact would be sizable: New family doctors training at BFMC and living in Franklin County and hopefully — since to live in Franklin County is to love Franklin County — staying. The resulting Family Medicine Center would enhance and enrich the area, like the presence of Greenfield Community College.
Last week, the Baystate hospital system’s Department of Family Medicine received two education grants from the federal government totaling $850,000 that will support medical education at 48 Sanderson St. Dr. Robert Baldor, who is leading the program, said, “There’s definitely a layer of excitement over this.” We share their excitement. The target date is July 1, 2022.
As reported here last week, Wendell and Leverett are testing the waters for shared policing services. Leverett’s Chief Scott Minckler explained that this idea has been in the works for roughly a year, prompted by the impending retirement of Wendell’s Chief Edward Chase. “I truly think that this is kind of where small-town policing is going,” Minckler said. Wendell’s patrol officer would likely join the Leverett department’s staff of two — soon to be three — full-time and six part-time officers. Wendell’s $44,000 police budget should stretch a lot further with the added personnel.
Just to our east, Royalston has entered into an agreement with Athol to run its wastewater treatment plant. Wastewater treatment plant operators are at a premium and it’s easy for a small town to have its operator lured away by a higher salary elsewhere. Yet their expertise is required to fulfill government regulations. Athol Town Manager Shaun Suhoski said the idea of an intermunicipal agreement was first broached when officials from both communities met to discuss issues relative to the Athol Royalston Regional School District.
Speaking of school districts, they seem to be getting bigger in Western Massachusetts, as witness the merger talks between Gill-Montague and Pioneer Valley Regional School District.
Shared police, shared wastewater treatment plant, shared schools — what’s next? Shared Fire Departments? We suspect many town leaders will be closely watching the outcome of Wendell and Leverett’s 90-day shared policing experiment.