Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Foodbank commends the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s decision to expand Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, known in Vermont as 3SquaresVT, to an estimated 25 million people nationwide. Nationally, this increased benefit will provide about $1 billion per month in additional food assistance. In Vermont, the increase is estimated to be about $2 million per month.

Households receiving less than $95 in emergency allotment benefits under the previous policy will be eligible for this additional support, which supplements the lowest income households participating in each state.

Vermont Business Magazine Effective April 2, 2021, adult sports leagues may resume the following activities: Individual skill-building exercises; Strength and conditioning sessions; and Drills involving incidental contact. In addition, adult outdoor sports teams and leagues may resume games, meets and competitions, subject to some restrictions. Governor Scott is expected to release his detailed Blue Print for reopening the entire economy later Tuesday.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) has awarded almost $850,000 for TRORC to offer a second round of grant money to small businesses financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Caledonia, Chittenden (including Burlington), Grand Isle, Essex, Franklin, Orange, Orleans, and Windsor counties. Qualifying sole proprietors who seek funding will be able to apply from April 5th through May 26th of 2021.

Vermont Business Magazine The Better Middlebury Partnership (BMP) announced today that as a result of generous donations from two community organizations, Kick Start Middlebury has doubled the size of the grants offered in its business recruitment effort, from $10,000 to $20,000 in start-up cash. Now with a total of $110,000 cash at its disposal, plus services donated by area businesses, the Kick Start Middlebury program is poised to change the town’s business and retail landscape.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has partnered with the Department of Disabilities, Aging & Independent Living (DAIL) and Vermont State Police (VSP) to create visor cards to help people who are deaf or hard of hearing communicate with law enforcement officers if they are pulled over while dr.

Sponsored Content

Over the past year, dental practices were mandated to close due to pandemic restrictions and then slowly reopened based on their local and state government guidance. Now, however, there is light on the horizon with COVID-19 vaccination distribution ramping up. In fact, according to the Vermont Department of Health, 36.9% of the state's population has received at least one dose of the vaccine and more than 116,000 people are fully vaccinated. Additionally, the Biden administration announced that every adult in the U.S. will be eligible for a vaccination no later than May 1, which should help to improve this progress.

Vermont Business Magazine In the pandemic, University of Vermont research expenditures hit record levels in 2020—up 41% to $191 million—to provide a crucial boost to Vermont’s economy during COVID-19. The total was reported in UVM’s annual 2020 National Science Foundation Higher Education Research and Development survey and is the largest in the university’s history. It eclipses the previous record of $136 million by a wide margin, and is a key contributor to UVM’s overall $1.3 billion annual economic impact.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) and Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) are proud to announce that each of its five primary care practices in Vermont—SVMC Deerfield Valley Campus in Wilmington, SVMC Internal Medicine in Bennington, SVMC Northshire Campus in Manchester, SVMC Pediatrics in Bennington, and SVMC Pownal Campus in Pownal—has achieved recognition for providing personalized, effective, and efficient primary care. The medical practices are now designated as Patient Centered Medical Homes by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

“This achievement recognizes the outstanding level of care we provide,” said Angie Marano, vice president for Ambulatory and Continuing Care Services at SVHC. “It underscores our commitment to putting patients at the center of all we do."

Vermont Business Magazine National Healthcare Decisions Day, a day devoted to educating the public about the importance of advance care planning, is Friday, April 16. Once again, Governor Phil Scott has joined us in acknowledging the importance of advance care planning through a Governor’s Proclamation declaring April 11 through 17 Advance Directive Week in Vermont

Vermont Business Magazine The White River Junction Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System and Middlebury College are partnering in the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out. On April 10th the White River Junction VA will be administering first doses of Janssen COVID-19 vaccine at Middlebury College’s Athletics Complex on South Main Street. This clinic is for Veterans and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees by appointment only.

by John McClaughry Paul Jarris MD, one of the best Commissioners of Public Health (2003-2006) that Vermont has ever had, often said forthrightly that “about forty percent of what Vermont spends on health care is simply wasted.”

Since then Vermont has gone through Catamount Health, Green Mountain Care, and All Payer. Have we gained much ground toward achieving our goals for a healthy and affordable Vermont?

OneCare is the Accountable Care Organization created when Governor Shumlin’s single-payer plan fizzled out in 2014, and was succeeded by All Payer. OneCare controls the flow of health care money from commercial insurers, Medicare and Medicaid.

Its purpose is to force the providers to meet the health care needs of a defined group of patients at a contracted price, rather than add up “fee for service” billings that are a major factor in health care cost inflation.