CREDIT: Courtesy of Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

CAPTION: An artist’s rendering featuring the design that was previously proposed for Spaulding’s facility in the Navy Yard.

Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital representatives said last week that they still intend to build a new facility in the Navy Yard, but they are now exploring different design options in the face of rising construction costs and the changing climate of the healthcare industry.
“We‘re here to explain to you why we don’t have a shovel in the ground at this minute,” said Spaulding President Judith Waterston. “To be good stewards, we must take pause and look at our options for this project.”
The Charlestown Neighborhood Council Development Committee met with hospital representatives at the Constitution Inn YMCA on Oct. 14 for the fifth time since the project slated for Parcel 6 was announced two years ago. At this time, Waterston said the hospital was undertaking a feasibility study to determine what type of deign could best accommodate Spaulding at the Navy Yard site, but she added that plans for a 300,000 square-foot, 150-bed facility that were previously presented to the community hadn’t been ruled out yet either.
Regardless of what design is ultimately chosen, Waterston said the project’s cost has risen from $160 million to $220 million, according to an estimate compiled by its general contractor, Boston-based Walsh Brothers, Inc.
Waterston said rising construction costs and inflation accounted for $50 million of these projected increases, while the remaining $10 million was attributed to the high price of new technology.
“Technology has improved obviously, and we want to build a state-of-the-art hospital,” Waterston said, adding that she expected the new hospital would serve the community for between 75 and 100 years.
Other trends in the healthcare industry are also being considered as part of the feasibility study, Waterston said, including a decrease in discharge rates at rehabilitation hospitals and a drop in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.
Despite these setbacks, Waterston said Spaulding was eager to move from its existing facility. “Our current site on Nashua Street is getting older and older, and we have to do something,” she said.
Melissa Walsh, government relations representative for Spaulding’s parent company, Partners Healthcare System, also assured CNC members that a different project wouldn’t be sited at Parcel 6 because the land came with the stipulation that a hospital be built there.
Meanwhile, CNC Chairman Tom Cunha voiced his support for the project but expressed concern that Spaulding would make good on its promises to employee union labor during construction and to provide long-term employment in the community.
“As we welcomed Spaulding, Spaulding would provide job opportunities,” Cunha said.
Spaulding representatives pledged to return before the CNC Development Committee in the first quarter of 2008 after the feasibility study is completed.

While Howie Mandel isn’t expected to be in attendance, next month’s Deal or No Deal fundraiser promises the excitement of the hit game show, as well as the chance to support local youth organizations.
The event is inspired by the hit NBC series hosted by Mandel where players select a briefcase containing an unknown sum of money and must decide whether to take a cash buyout for the case or risk it all in the hope of winning the grand prize instead. While all cash winnings at the fundraiser will be donated to the non-profit of the winner’s choice, local businesses have donated other prizes for participants including gift certificates for restaurants, limousine service and weekend getaway packages.
Like the much-anticipated, annual Bunker Hill Day Pre-Parade Breakfast, the fundraiser benefits the Bunker Hill Associates, which has raised $172,000 for youth programs in Charlestown since its inception in 1985. Its top recipients have included the Bunker Hill Parade Committee, the Charlestown Youth Hockey Association, the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club, Charlestown Little League, the John F. Kennedy Family Service Center and the Charlestown Working Theater.
By December, Bunker Hill Associates expects to have awarded between $13,000 and $15,000 in grants this year alone, said Marty O’Brien Jr., the organization’s president.
Dave Whelan, secretary of Bunker Hill Associates, hopes that representatives from community youth programs will turn out for the event since it, in fact, benefits them.
“We’ve supported so many organizations throughout the town that we hope they come to support us because ultimately they are the recipients,” Whelan said.
The game show-inspired event is the brainchild of Bunker Hill Associates Committee member Paul Herrick, whom Whelan described as “a fundraiser extraordinaire.” Herrick will play the part of Mandel and serve as the evening’s host.
The evening will feature four regular games and a possible celebrity match-up, as well as snacks and music courtesy of DJ Dennis Cain of Pro-Music Productions.
“We’re looking to have a good crowd,” Whelan said. “It should be a good night. There’s a lot of good buzz about it.”
The Bunker Hill Associates’ Deal or No Deal fundraiser takes place at Knights of Columbus Hall, 75 West School St., on Saturday, Nov. 3, from 7 p.m. to midnight. Tickets are $10. For tickets, call Marty O'Brien Jr. at 617-242-0301; David Whelan at 617-242-1604; or Paul Herrick at 617-242-0062.

CAPTION 1: Tibbets Town Way resident and Red Sox fan Red Lawton is seen hanging a banner of support for the Sox in the World Series on Tuesday.

CAPTION 2: Meanwhile, Lawton's neighbor Ron Gochakowski, a lifelong Bostonian and Yankees fan, sheds a tear for his favorite team that failed him this season.

Charlestown has experienced a drop in 31-percent drop in violent crime so far this year, compared with the same period in 2006, according to Boston Police statistics.
Between, Jan. 1 and Sept. 19 of 2007, 613 part 1 crimes, which include violent and property crimes, were reported, as opposed to 674 during the same period last year.
Another notable reduction was in robberies, which fell by more than 50 percent. Between Jan. 1 and Sept. 19 of 2007, 31 robberies were reported, compared with 68 during the same time last year.
Captain O’Rourke of Boston Police Area A-1 said that a 6-percent spike in property crimes was reported in 2007 over the same time period in 2006. While this is largely due to a 20-percent spike in auto theft so far this year, O’Rourke said the number is still approximately half of what it was three or four years ago.
In addition, O’Rourke said that the burglary rate, which saw a spike several months ago, is now leveling off.
O’Rourke said that although the recent statistics are encouraging, “they don’t tell the full picture of quality-of-life issues.”
To illustrate this point, Captain O’Rourke noted a profound drop in non-fatal overdoses: In 2006, 31 non-fatal overdoses were reported, compared with seven so far this year.
“This is the first time we’ve seen a significant drop in that figure in many years,” O’Rourke said.

One month after a judge sentenced a Charlestown man to five for a drunken driving crash, he imposed a stricter sentence of 10 to 12 years in state prison on him Monday.
Robert E. Getz, 29, was sentenced on charges of manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, motor vehicle homicide, operating under the influence causing serious bodily injury and operating a motor vehicle after having a suspended license.
In September, Getz was sentenced to five years in state prison for the manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle charge by Middlesex Superior Court Judge Hiller Zobel. This week, Zobel revoked the original sentence and gave Getz a more severe penalty that reflected the other charges, including 10 to 12 years in prison, 15 years of probation and $1,600 in fines, according to published reports.
On the evening of April 8, 2006, Getz, who reportedly has a lengthy record for drunk driving and other motor-vehicle citations, consumed at least two rum drinks before driving his wife’s 2002 BMW to purchase more liquor, prosecutors said. Getz then allegedly stopped off at King Arthur’s Lounge, an Everett strip club, where he consumed a vodka drink before getting behind the wheel again.
The vehicle Getz was driving struck a Saturn and then a Toyota Camry while traveling westbound on the eastbound lane on the access road to Route 16 in Everett, according to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office.
Getz was placed under arrest after displaying signs of intoxication at the scene of the accident and transported to the Medford State Police Barracks for booking. Further investigation revealed that Getz had a blood alcohol level of .17 — about twice the state’s legal limit — and had driven more than 400 feet in the opposite lane at speeds greater than 55 m.p.h. in a 25 m.p.h. zone, the District Attorney’s office said.
The Toyota Camry driver and his passenger were both treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.
The driver of the Saturn, 19-year-old Christopher McFeely, and the passenger, 16-year-old Krystyl Poirier were transported to area hospitals. McFeely suffered fractures to his legs and a shattered pelvis. Poirier, who was ejected through the Saturn’s sunroof and pinned under the car, was later pronounced dead at Whidden Memorial Hospital in Everett.