Vermont hospitals say consultant's recommendations could create healthcare deserts
Hospital executives across Vermont are not pleased with a report on the state's health care system released by the Green Mountain Care Board last month, some seeing it as an existential threat based on faulty information.
The report, by consultant Dr. Bruce Hamory of Oliver Wyman Life Sciences, identified four hospitals − Gifford Medical Center in Randolph, Springfield Hospital, Grace Cottage Hospital in Townshend and North Country Hospital in Newport − as facing the greatest risk of closure because they don't have the volume of patients to support their operations.
The report proposes the development of new regionalized centers of care as a way to ensure the viability of Vermont's health care system going forward. These "Centers of Excellence" would provide specialized services within the reach of most Vermonters, and would create areas of "sufficient population size" to support the medical professionals and equipment needed.
In response, Michael Del Trecco, chief executive officer of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, characterized many of Hamory's recommendations as "deeply concerning." The VAHHS represents all 14 Vermont hospitals.