'Leave us alone': administrators, officials push back on recommendations for hospital restructuring

VTDigger

Some hospital administrators and elected officials reacted with dismay to a report this week that recommended a significant restructuring of hospitals across Vermont. 

The sprawling report, released Wednesday by consultancy Oliver Wyman, recommends a slate of reforms to the state’s beleaguered hospitals and health care systems — reforms that are necessary to forestall insolvency at some Vermont hospitals and repair a “badly broken” system, consultants said.

But administrators at those hospitals, and political representatives for the communities where they operate, have expressed concern and surprise about the proposals.

The report’s recommendations for Randolph’s Gifford Medical Center — which include replacing inpatient beds with a facility dedicated to mental health or geriatric care — were “surprising and deeply disappointing,” said Dan Bennett, the hospital’s president and CEO, in an email.

“While we knew this report to the state was coming, its contents are, frankly, shocking,” Bennett said.

The report, presented at a lengthy Wednesday meeting of the Green Mountain Care Board, was the culmination of months of work and meetings involving thousands of Vermont health care administrators, providers and residents. 

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