Hillcrest Hospital was founded in 1908 by Dr. Charles Harper Richardson, a surgeon who saw the need for a surgical hospital in the community. Dr. Richardson set up the non profit hospital in a rented house on the corner of North Street and Springside Avenue. This was the second hospital in Pittsfield at the time.

In 1948 The Board of Directors approved the $145,000 purchase of the Salisbury Estate off West Street in Pittsfield as a new location for Hillcrest Hospital, officially opening on February 18, 1951. In 1996, Hillcrest Hospital merged with Berkshire Medical Center. The former Hillcrest Hospital is now the Hillcrest Campus of BMC.