Vt. hospitals urge regulators to sign off on budget requests
WCAX
Vermont hospital leaders are urging the Green Mountain Care Board to sign off on their historic budget requests ahead of the budget review on Wednesday.
Hospital leaders call them recovery budgets, as they say they continue to bounce back from costs related to COVID-19. Staffing shortages, an increase in patient care and inflation are leading to budget increases anywhere from 7% to 24%.
“Vermont hospitals solve problems for our communities without compromising our mission. I know for certain that this would look a lot different if our goal was to generate profits for shareholders,” said Mike Del Trecco, the president and CEO of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems.
Del Trecco says over the next couple weeks of the hearings, hospitals will tell their unique stories of challenges they face to care for Vermonters and help communities thrive.