Current News
by ayla
A gift of $10 million to Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H) will be used to create an advanced clinical facility to provide integrated, patient and family-centered care for patients with life-threatening illness and complex medical needs.
The Center for Palliative and Hospice Care will combine the latest thinking and techniques to advance interdisciplinary patient and family-centered, care, while offering unprecedented opportunities for teaching, training, and research for health care providers and clinicians in training from across the country.
The $10 million gift, the largest in Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s history, has been made anonymously. It will be used to establish a 12-bed Center, intended to fill a growing need for specialized care for seriously ill people whose pain or other medical needs are difficult to manage at home or in a nursing home.
by tim
by Kate Robinson vtdigger.org A patient’s medical records used to be more or less a closed book. The large, sometimes inches-thick file sitting on the counter in the examination room, which the doctor might refer to but did not discuss with the patient, is a thing of the past.
by tim
An overnight fire in Burlington has forced residents of a 131 Elmwood Avenue apartment building from their homes, leaving some to wonder what’s next. The building has four units, three of which were occupied.
Throughout the day, volunteers with our Chittenden County Disaster Action Team have met with the residents of two of the impacted units, one of which took the brunt of the blaze. The residents of a second apartment are unable to return at this time due to smoke damage and the fact that power to the building remains cut off. In each instance, our volunteers have made arrangements for temporary lodging for the residents, including the pet that lived with the couple residing in one of the units. In addition, financial support was provided for food, clothing, shoes and seasonal garments as appropriate. Referrals to additional avenues of support, whether that be state or non-profit resources, were also shared.
by ayla
North Country Hospital Medical Staff President, Dr. Jennifer Ladd, delivered several boxes of food and well over $2,300 last week to the NEKCA food shelf from a month long effort.
"The medical staff wanted to donate to the community and decided to give food and money to the local NEKCA food shelf," she said.
Accepting the donation is April Mead of NEKCA. She commented how grateful NEKCA is to receive this donation, as this time of year the shelves are very much depleted.
Photo courtesy of North Country Hospital
Source: North Country Hospital
by tim
Governor Peter Shumlin announced today that he will appoint his Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs Louis Porter to replace Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Patrick Berry when Berry leaves his post in May.
Louis Porter, right, with Governor Shumlin in 2012. vtdigger file photo.
Berry, who has been the head of Fish & Wildlife for the length of the Shumlin administration, is leaving to work for the Vermont Community Foundation as Vice President for Philanthropy near his East Middlebury home.
"It has been the greatest honor of my career to serve as commissioner of the department," Berry said. "I am humbled by the commitment of the staff and their tireless efforts to protect and conserve Vermont’s fish, wildlife, and plant resources."
by tim
US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) Monday recommended Vermont Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Crawford to President Obama, to be the next judge on Vermont’s US District Court. He was appointed to Vermont's highest court last September.
Justice Crawford was one of two finalists suggested by the nine-member, nonpartisan Vermont Judicial Nominating Commission, to fill the upcoming vacancy on the court when Judge William Sessions takes senior status. Leahy interviewed the finalists in Vermont earlier this month.
Leahy said, “Justice Crawford is an experienced and well-respected jurist. In the finest Vermont tradition, he is known for his modesty and humanity, for his warmth, for his pragmatism, and for his unwavering commitment to the highest standards of public service.”
by tim
Related Company: Saint Michael's CollegeThis year’s commencement at Saint Michael’s will be an immersive experience. The college is proud to announce that Dr Sylvia A Earle, a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and world-renowned oceanographer, explorer, author and lecturer, will be the guest speaker at the 2014 Commencement exercises on Sunday, May 11 at the Ross Sports Center starting at 10 am.
by ayla
The state of Vermont ranks fifth nationwide in statewide graduation rates for its four-year public higher education institutions. The state also ranks fifth when students who begin school at a Vermont four-year public university or college but graduate elsewhere are taken into account.
The data was compiled by the National Student Clearinghouse and tracks six-year graduation rates in every state.
In Vermont 73.9 percent of students who began college in 2007 graduated in 2013, 61.5 percent from their original institution and 12.4 percent from a different school.
The University of Vermont’s six-year graduation rate is 76 percent (not including students who start at the university but graduated elsewhere), 18 percentage points higher than the national average for U.S. public doctoral/research universities. Its four-year rate of 65 percent is 36 percentage points higher than the average in that category.
Source: University Communications, March 24, 2014.
by tim
by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org A Vermont House panel has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would create sweeping changes to the way Vermont schools are governed. H.883 would reduce the total number of municipal school districts from 282 to 45 by 2020.
If the legislation is successful (it has to pass the House and the Senate), it will be the first time the state’s home rule structure has changed since 1892 when the state went from 2,500 local school boards to a total of 300.
by tim
With the Highway Trust Fund projected to become insolvent this year, the National Lieutenant Governors Association unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution, cosponsored by Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott (R-Vermont) and Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam (D-VA), calling on Congress to “develop a shared, long term vision for surface transportation.”
“Secretary Brian Searles and Congressman Peter Welch were instrumental in bringing this matter to the attention of the Vermont House and Senate Transportation Committees, which prompted the resolution,” Scott said. “In addition, Congressman Welch continues to lead roundtable discussions and meetings with key transportation leaders from both parties to bring attention to the issue and develop strategies for the future.”
by tim
Related Company: Vermont Federal Credit UnionThe Federal Reserve Bank of Boston announced today the appointment of four new members to the First District Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council (CDIAC), including Vermont Federal Credit Union CEO Bernie P Isabelle.
The entire list of new members follows:
· David Bruce – President/CEO, Lee Bank, Lee, MA
· Bernie P. Isabelle – President/ CEO, Vermont Federal Credit Union, Burlington, VT
· Mark J. Meiklejohn – President/CEO, Bank Rhode Island, Providence, RI
· Richard Wallis – President/CEO, Piscataqua Savings Bank, Portsmouth, NH
Standing members of the Council include:
· James W. Blake – President/CEO, HarborOne Bank, Brockton, MA
· Donna Boulanger – President/CEO, North Brookfield Savings Bank, North Brookfield, MA
· Edward Danek, Jr. – President/CEO, Hartford Federal Credit Union, Hartford, CT
by tim
Related Company: Chittenden County Transportation Authorityby Anne Galloway vtdigger.org
The bus drivers’ union, Teamsters Local 597, and the Chittenden County Transit Authority failed to come to an agreement after seven hours of negotiations on Saturday.
The Burlington area bus strike will continue into a second week.
CCTA officials say union representatives walked out of talks with federal mediators. The company says the remaining issues include wages, part-time drivers, work hours and cameras on buses.
“Union demands continue to be out of line with CCTA’s obligation to operate a safe, affordable and reliable public transportation system,” Bill Watterson, general manager of CCTA said in a statement.
The union identified two major issues, which the company was unwilling to address, according to Tony St. Hilaire, a business agent for the Teamsters.