Vermont Secretary Of Human Services Outlines Next Steps On Health Care Reform Process
On Tuesday, Vermont Secretary of Human Services Jenney Samuelson weighed in on a recent report that recommended dramatic changes to Vermont’s hospitals and the next steps in the process that will be undertaken by AHS, the Legislature, and others to address mounting challenges in the health care system.
Samuelson addressed the report by consulting firm Oliver Wyman, which was delivered last month to the Green Mountain Care Board and found that Vermont’s hospitals are in an increasingly desperate financial situation. The report, which the Vermont Legislature commissioned and the result of a lengthy process, recommended various systemic changes that should be considered, including dramatic changes to the services and offerings at North Country Hospital.
NCH was one of four hospitals in the state recommended to undergo significant changes, while all would need some level of adaptation and change.
The recommendations and some of the underlying data that led to them have met with pushback from the potentially impacted communities, which have concerns over equity and access, especially in rural communities.
A recent op-ed by NCH CEO Tom Frank and NVRH CEO Shawn Tester outlined the variety of ways the two critical-access hospitals in the Northeast Kingdom collaborate, share resources to find cost savings, and rely on each other to provide health care to 20% of the state’s geographic area.
“Despite this great work, a recent report from the Green Mountain Care Board states that health care services should be eliminated and consolidated across Vermont, and essentially hospitals like North Country, Gifford, Springfield and Grace Cottage should close.