UVM Medical Center takes legal action in effort to prevent additional patient care cuts
On Monday, University of Vermont Medical Center filed a motion with the Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) to delay a board order that penalizes the hospital for delivering necessary care to patients in fiscal year 2023. Unless the GMCB’s enforcement action is overturned, the hospital said in a statement, it will force UVM Medical Center, the academic medical center that anchors University of Vermont Health Network, to cut patient care and support services. The GMCB, in turn, disputed the assertions made by the hospital.
In a statement, UVMMC said that because the board penalized UVM Medical Center without first providing the hospital an enforcement hearing or taking any testimony regarding the consequences of the ordered cuts, UVM Medical Center will appeal the enforcement action as an illegal exercise of the board’s authority. The motion UVM Medical Center filed yesterday, if granted by the board, would allow the hospital to postpone some of the service cuts while its appeal is pending.
“By seeking care with us, our patients have shown they need more access to health care services, not less,” said Stephen Leffler, MD, president and chief operating officer of UVM Medical Center. “We filed this motion because it is our responsibility to take every possible step to limit the impact of the board’s decisions on our patients, communities and staff and we want to have the opportunity to present our case about why this decision is wrong.”