Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems Partners with Medical Mutual Insurance Company and VPQHC to Assemble Kits for Children in Emergency Departments

For Immediate Release
September 27, 2023

Contact: Beth Esmond
802-343-9074
communications@VAHHS.org

Hospital Leaders Convene for Service Project at Annual Meeting to Support Partners in Health Care and Provide Comfort to Young Patients

Burlington, VT – In what has now become an annual tradition, health care leaders at the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (VAHHS) Annual Meeting on September 21 and 22 set aside time to do a service project for the community. This year, the group partnered with the Vermont Partners for Quality in Health Care (VPQHC) to assemble activity kits for children in Vermont emergency departments, sometimes awaiting mental health beds. The kits are the latest hospital service project, which have in the past included supply kits for housing-insecure families supported by Capstone Community Action and welcome kits for refugee families coming to Vermont through Bennington County Open Arms.

“Our friends at VPQHC originally produced these kits—not as a solution to long wait times, but as a way of making a hard time easier for patients, families and staff and we are so grateful for their efforts,” said Michael Del Trecco, President and CEO of VAHHS. “VPQHC, like so many organizations and individuals, experienced devastating flooding in July and lost some of their inventory of these kits, so we thought this was a fitting service project this year. This partnership and others like it are essential in health care as we all work to meet the needs of our shared patients and clients as efficiently as we can.”

The kits include activity books, stress-relieving toys and other items to help pass the time constructively, which are age-appropriate and safe for use in an emergency setting. VAHHS and sponsor Medical Mutual Insurance Company worked together to provide the supplies. Hospital leaders and annual meeting attendees volunteered to assemble the kits throughout the two-day meeting.

“VPQHC is beyond grateful for being included in the VAHHS annual meeting, and for the contributions made to support children in emergency rooms across Vermont,” said Bonnie Collins, project lead for the pediatric comfort kits initiative at VPQHC. “We work closely with our hospitals and others across the health care continuum to identify these types of needs and then partner to meet them. It is yet another reason why we are so proud to be part of health care in Vermont.”

VAHHS’s annual meeting next year is scheduled for September 19 to 20 at Jay Peak Resort and will undoubtedly feature another service project in partnership with a great local organization.

Learn more at VAHHS.org

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