Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Conversations between seriously ill people, their families and palliative care specialists lead to better quality-of-life. Understanding what happens during these conversations - and particularly how they vary by cultural, clinical, and situational contexts - is essential to guide healthcare communication improvement efforts. To gain true understanding, new methods to study conversations in large, inclusive, and multi-site epidemiological studies are required. A new computer model offers an automated and valid tool for such large-scale scientific analyses.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Council on Aging will be hosting its popular “Powerful Tools for Caregivers” course virtually this summer with a six-week class kicking off on July 23. The course, which is free and offered to caregivers who are caring for family members, friends and neighbors, among others, is designed to give participants the tools to be a highly effective caregiver while also ensuring that they are taking care of themselves as well.

Vermont Business Magazine Camp Ta-Kum-Ta is thrilled to announce that Dr Alan Homans from the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital has accepted the volunteer role of Medical Director for Camp Ta-Kum-Ta effective July 1, 2021. As the previous director of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at UVM Medical, Dr Homans is well versed in the often-complex needs of our campers and their families.

Vermont Business Magazine In celebration of summer and the warmer weather, the White River Junction US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Healthcare System announces the return of the Blessing of the Bikes event which will be held on Sunday, July 25, 2021 this year. The event will start at 11 am in the front parking lot of the White River Junction VA campus on Veterans Drive, where Chaplain Lorna Graham will bless all the motorcycles and their riders.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Health Care’s (SVHC) Medical Matters Weekly with Dr. Trey Dobson—a weekly interactive, multiplatform medical-themed talk show—will feature Dr Lisa Downing-Forget, a physician at SVMC Internal Medicine, and Rebecca Filson, FNP, a hospital medicine provider, on its July 14 program. The show will air live at noon. Both guests are involved in diversity and inclusion programs at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC).

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) has announced the graduation of two residents from its 3-year Podiatry Residency Program. At a gathering of health system leadership and faculty on Tuesday, June 29, Breton Fox, DPM, was awarded a certificate of completion. Shazad Buksh, DPM, also graduated but was unable to attend the event.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the appointment of Christine Hallquist as executive director of the newly established Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB). The Board was created through Act 71, An act relating to accelerated community broadband deployment, to assist and accelerate community efforts to achieve universal access to reliable, high-speed broadband service. She ran for governor against Scott as the Democratic nominee in 2018. Hallquist previously was a long-serving CEO of Vermont Electric Cooperative.

Vermont State Police On Monday at approximately 0623 hours, Troopers from the Royalton Barracks, Westminster Barracks, and Middlesex Barracks were dispatched to the area of mile marker 66 on I-91 north in the Town of Hartland for a report of several vehicles which crashed at that location. Hartford and Hartland Fire and Rescue also responded as well as the Agency of Transportation and an Inspector from the Department of Motor Vehicles commercial team.

Vermont Business Magazine With the restoration of Amtrak service, the Essex Junction Trustees are highlighting the need for an expanded and enhanced structure to serve Amtrak passengers at Vermont’s busiest train station. To make the point, Village Trustees and friends of passenger rail will gather at the Station on Railroad Avenue in Essex Junction July 19 – the first stop of the Vermonter as it heads to New York City – to review the current status of the station, to highlight the 2015 planning initiative that proposed a major redesign and renovation of the existing structure and to see how the project fits into the Village’s economic development plans.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation reminds all those who plan to attend celebratory events on July 19 at Amtrak stations in Vermont and ride the train that they must also make an online reservation in advance if they wish to return on a free shuttle bus. Train fares of $1 are being offered for travel within Vermont on July 19 so attendees may participate in the celebration with an Amtrak train ride. To reserve a $1 ticket, go to www.amtrak.com/vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine FEMA reimbursed the State of Vermont $7,554,501 it spent testing Vermonters for nearly five months during the statewide emergency response to coronavirus. VDH worked with CIC Health. Supplies included swabs, tubes and cryogenic boxes used to ship specimens to labs. Also, CIC generated results within 24 hours of specimens being received at labs. Additionally, it offered technical assistance.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan and Rutland County State’s Attorney Rosemary Kennedy will host a virtual expungement clinic on Friday, July 30th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Expungements wipe from your record specific convictions and dismissed charges after a certain period of time has passed. Under Vermont law, many misdemeanors, 14 different felony offenses, and all dismissed charges can be expunged. The free clinic will focus on expunging criminal charges and convictions from Rutland County and will be open to the public by telephone appointment.