VAHHS Update
VAHHS Update arrives every Monday to your inbox and shares our reflections, legislative updates, news from our members around the state, and upcoming educational opportunities. You can sign up for VAHHS Update at the link on the bottom of this page.
Recent Stories in VAHHS Update
U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., stopped in to visit the folks at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital on Wednesday afternoon and thank them for all their hard work.
At Rutland Regional Medical Center, administrators have long wanted to combine two different parts of the hospital: the birthing center and the Women’s and Children’s Unit.
This afternoon, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN)volunteers will rally at the Vermont State House as a part of their annual Cancer Action Day advocating for legislation that address the needs of patients across the cancer continuum. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) gives people impacted by cancer a powerful voice with lawmakers by holding an annual Cancer Action Day.
I wouldn’t call last week light, but it offered a little bit of a breather from crossover as the health care committees wait for bills from the other chamber to land on their bulletin boards. The money committees, however, worked overtime on both the budget and BAA negotiations after the governor’s veto. We’ll have more information on those bills next week.
Visiting Nurse and Hospice of Vermont and New Hampshire, located in White River Junction, will relinquish its designation as the home health agency and discontinue all home health and hospice services in most of Windham County and some of Bennington County, effective April 15.
Over the past few years, hospital emergency rooms — in Vermont and beyond — have seen an increasingly disturbing condition: an “epidemic of violence,” as Liz Couto, an emergency department nurse and chair of the Vermont Emergency Nurses Association’s government affairs committee, put it Wednesday.
Several hospitals in Vermont are seeing revenue losses, something the Green Mountain Care Board said needs to change for hospitals to continue to operate.
"These negative margins are really worrisome," said board member David Murman.
Concern is also growing over threats made by the Trump Administration to cut Medicaid and Medicare and recent instability in the stock market.
Vermont lawmakers are seeking to implement new oversight measures on hospitals and limit how much they could charge for care, proposals that would significantly change how the state’s largest health care providers can operate.
New numbers released on Wednesday indicate Vermont’s rural hospitals continue to face serious budgetary problems that put them at risk of bankruptcy.
n July 2024, the secretary of Vermont’s Agency of Human Services announced that the state had been selected for a new federal health care reform model.
Vermont’s largest insurance company, BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont, said they had another year of losses in 2024 as health care expenses rose more than 15% compared to the prior year.
A hospital executive from Ohio is offering the Green Mountain Care Board recommendations on how to make services more accessible, provide better care, and also make it more affordable.
The healthcare field is often revered for its innovative research efforts and dedication to bettering the lives of the people it serves.
A virtual town hall hosted by U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Congresswoman Becca Balint, D-Vt., drew roughly 34,000 participants Wednesday night as uncertainty over the future of federal programs took center stage.
Ah, Town Meeting Week, an oasis amidst the legislative chaos where everyone empties the State House and goes home to participate in Town Meeting Day on Tuesday.
The Green Mountain Care Board voted Friday to raise the revenue cap for UVM Medical Center to keep dialysis programs up and running at three hospitals across Vermont.
WCAX
Helping aspiring clinicians find their community.
The UVM Medical Center and the Vermont Professionals of Color Network are working together to connect incoming medical residents of color with others with similar backgrounds and experiences.
Brave Little State is Vermont Public’s listener-powered journalism podcast. Every episode begins with a question submitted by our audience. Today, a question from Rosie Krueger, of Montpelier:
A birthday bash at the White River Junction VA Friday honored a WCAX Super Senior and Army veteran who served his country during World War II.
The Vermont Agency of Human Services (AHS) has announced a new partnership with the Rural Health Redesign Center (RHRC) to help Vermont hospitals and health care providers implement transformative changes that address the state’s high healthcare costs, strengthen local health systems, and improve patients’ access to quality care.
Older Vermonters are finding a better quality of life thanks to a new heart valve procedure.
A 64-year-old Barre City man is facing charges after allegedly assaulting staff at the Central Vermont Medical Center.
Sen. Peter Welch says he’s concerned about Elon Musk’s access to sensitive FEMA and Medicaid information that could jeopardize Vermonters’ personal information.
Dozens of residents from the Northeast Kingdom were at the Statehouse Thursday hoping to keep the needs of Vermont’s most rural region front and center as lawmakers debate policy in Montpelier.
And just like that, we’re already staring down the barrel of crossover on March 14th. This week will be extremely busy as policy committees work on their budget priorities and advancing bills before they go home for Town Meeting week.
Last week, one of the best Montpelier traditions endured—the Montpelier Valentine Phantom struck again—and not even the State House was immune to all the love.
Lamoille Health Partners will close Stowe Family Associates, its primary care practice on Mountain Road in Stowe, as the health care provider continues to cut services in search of financial sustainability.
This sick season, there is expanded access to a new immunization that can help protect babies from getting sick.
When staffers clock in at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, they get to see a piece of art. It looks like a series of blocks and lines, but there’s a story behind it.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a senior member and former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) introduced the bipartisan Rural Hospital Support Act to prevent rural hospital closures by extending and modernizing critical Medicare programs.
