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Vermont Business Magazine While the national annual median cost of long term care increased across the board this year, the cost of long term care services in Vermont was mixed as COVID-19 intensified providers' existing challenges in meeting the increasing demand for long term care, according to Genworth's 17th annual Cost of Care Survey. Most categories showed a decrease in costs in Vermont (except for home services) as average costs nationally were generally up. However costs in every category in Vermont were higher than the national average by substantial amounts.

by Jeff Tieman, VAHHS President and CEO What a day. What a week. What a month. What a YEAR. I’ll bet you’ve made these exclamations more than once in 2020. I know I have. We have entered the final month of likely the most difficult and strange year in most of our lives, and I’m sure there are still more twists and turns in store for us before the ball drops on New Year’s Eve.

Vermont Business Magazine Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE) is offering no-cost flu vaccines to all individuals in need of the vaccination this season. The free service is available in all 12 PPNNE health centers across Vermont. Individuals using their insurance at PPNNE are likely to receive the vaccine for free under their plan. For those who are uninsured, paying out of pocket, or who have a plan that does not cover the flu shot, PPNNE will absorb the cost.

Vermont Business Magazine On Friday, the state’s Select Committee on the Future of Public Higher Education in Vermont released their initial report. The recommendations include reducing the total number of colleges from four to two, leaving Community College of Vermont, with the other three institutions being consolidated perhaps as Vermont State University. This is similar to the failed attempt to consolidate the colleges offered by former Chancellor Jeb Spaulding earlier this year. However, the report does not call for the shuttering of all but one campus, but does offer a stern warning that severe action must be taken right away. The committee also takes to task a lack of focus among state leaders and the very mission of the colleges, which it says should be more vocationally oriented.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health is reporting 65 new cases of COVID-19 statewide today, which is noticeable lower than nearly any day in the last month. However, the VDH is reporting two more deaths for a statewide total of 81. Hospitalizations (26) and ICU patients (6) also remain high as the coronavirus has infected vulnerable residents in long-term care facilities.

Senator Patrick Leahy As of today, there are more than 14.8 million reported cases of COVID-19 in the United States – one million more than just a week ago. More than 282,000 Americans have died. And it has been 256 days since the Senate passed the CARES Act. Two hundred and fifty-six days since the Senate acted in a comprehensive, meaningful way to address the real – and mounting – concerns and needs of our constituents. Healthcare workers and caregivers, business owners and employees, teachers and students – all in need of support in these difficult and uncertain times. Families wrestling with heightened food insecurity, and the threat of eviction hanging over them. States strapped by budget shortfalls, forced to lay off thousands of employees.

Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission As COVID-19 cases surge across Vermont and the rest of the country, it has left many communities uncertain of winter maintenance in a time of social distancing and quarantining. To quell these uncertainties, there are a couple of strategies to undertake through mutual aid agreements and Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP).

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing (VDTM) has launched a new online holiday shopping guide, Buy Vermont Made. The new directory connects shoppers with Vermont retailers and Vermont-made gifts in six categories – wearables, craft beverages, specialty food, home goods, personal care and toys and books.

Vermont Business Magazine Comcast announced today that it will extend its commitments to help people connect to the Internet during the COVID-19 pandemic as millions continue to stay home while many workplaces and schools operate virtually. Comcast will continue to provide free Internet service for the first 60 days for new Internet Essentials customers, and free access to more than 1.5 million public Xfinity WiFi hotspots, the largest network of its kind in the country, through June 30, 2021. Today’s announcement marks the third time Comcast has extended these commitments. Hotspots are scattered across Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Berkshire Bank plans to consolidate 16 full-service branches. Following the targeted completion of these initiatives in the first half of 2021, the bank will operate a total of 106 branches across Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and New York - reducing the overall branch footprint by 18 percent. Of the first six targeted for closure, none are in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Mayor Miro Weinberger secured the endorsement of the Burlington Democratic Party during its virtual nominating caucus Sunday evening. South End resident and Campaign Treasurer CD Mattison nominated Mayor Weinberger for the mayoral seat. Mayor Weinberger delivered a speech where he laid out a plan to continue strong focus on containing COVID-19, drive a robust and racially just economic recovery from the pandemic, and shared a vision for Burlington that bases policy on science, data, and expertise.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont State Police is identifying the individuals involved in the nearly 12-hour standoff that began Sunday afternoon, December 6, 2020, and concluded safely at 1:21 am Monday. The suspect is Reginald Book, 70, of West Haven. He is facing charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and simple assault. The first two charges arise from Book’s use of his vehicle in an attempt to run over a state trooper at the scene of the standoff on Main Road in West Haven. The third charge stems from an incident earlier Sunday in which he and an adult male relative became involved in a physical altercation, which started this investigation.