Current News

VNAs of Vermont The 2020 legislative session is fast approaching. It will be the second year of a two-year biennium which means any bill that had not yet passed at the end of the 2019 legislative session picks up where it left off. Controversial bills often require a full two-year biennium to make it through the entire process. Such is the case for the minimum wage and paid family leave bills, both of which failed to pass when negotiations to reconcile the House and Senate versions stalled. Eventually, in an unusual move, the House brought the session to an end without agreement from the Senate.

by Jeff Tieman, President and CEO, VAHHS As many of us sit down to a holiday dinner or stand up to toast the new year, thousands of our neighbors are hard at work caring for others. Hospitals don’t close for the holidays—babies are born, emergency surgeries are performed and, unfortunately, more accidents occur during the darkest, iciest days of the year. It takes a lot of devoted people to care for unexpected patients and conditions. 

Missing regular celebrations during the holidays is just one way hospital employees serve their patients and their communities during the giving season. Vermont hospitals contribute millions each year to support community programs and partners—and to provide care for people who cannot afford it. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Interventional and Perioperative Services Departments at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC)—part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC)—received a special gift from donors Bob and Anne Farrara of Eagle Bridge, NY. The couple donated $10,000 for the purchase of an Arrow Vascular Positioning System (VPS) G4 Device from Teleflex. The machine expedites the placement of Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) lines—a long thin tube inserted into a vein in the heart. PICC lines remain in place long term and provide clinicians convenient access to deliver intravenous (IV) antibiotics, nutrition, or medications or to draw blood over several encounters without the need for a needle stick.

Vermont Business Magazine Published studies have long found a correlation between obesity in children and decreased executive function. New research published in JAMA Pediatrics, based on data mined from a massive national research study, suggests that a change in brain structure – a thinner prefrontal cortex – may help explain that interrelationship. “Our results show an important connection; that kids with higher BMI tend to have a thinner cerebral cortex, especially in the prefrontal area."

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC), earned an ‘A’ for hospital safety from the Leapfrog Group. The national distinction recognizes SVMC’s achievements protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care. The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization driven by employers and other purchasers of health care. The organization is committed to improving health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers.

Vermont Business Magazine Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice (CVHHH) is thrilled to share that its first-ever Giving Tuesday campaign was a success. Thanks to the support of many donors, and a generous $1,500 match from Fall Honorary Appeal Chairs Rubin and Shaline Bennett of East Montpelier, CVHHH brought in $6,295 on Giving Tuesday.

VNAs of Vermont A number of studies ordered by the legislature in 2019 have been published or are in the final stages of development. Taken together, these report touch on the major priorities of the VNAs of Vermont – financial sustainability and workforce recruitment and retention. 

Vermont Business Magazine Bringing more than 30 years of health care executive experience, Pamela M. Duchene, PhD, APRN, has joined the executive management team at Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) as its Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer. Duchene has served as the chief nursing officer at Hallmark Health System in Melrose, MA, a 368-bed facility, and at St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, NH, which is a Magnet Center for Nursing Excellence and has 208 beds. In addition, she has had extensive experience in the long-term care and rehabilitation industries, serving as a vice president of Harmony Healthcare International in Massachusetts, SunHealth Care Group in New Mexico, and HealthSouth New England in Massachusetts. Duchene is a practicing adult/gerontological nursing practitioner. She attained her Doctor of Nursing Science at Rush University in Illinois.

Vermont Business Magazine The Annual Meeting of the Southern Vermont Health Services Corporation and its subsidiary, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) held on December 6, 2019 featured special guests, an overview of 2019 hospital initiatives and achievements, as well the election of new board members. Keynote speaker Cheyanne Warren, DDS, MS is the Dental Therapy Program Director at Vermont Technical College.  Dr. Warren provided an overview of the role of dental therapists and the growing national need for the profession.  Vermont Technical College has been a longtime supporter of dental therapy in Vermont and played a critical role in the passage of legislation. 

Public Assets Institute Vermont’s labor force shrank for the fourth straight month in November, hitting its lowest point since May 2002. In fact, the labor force has declined steadily since the Great Recession. Last month it was down to 343,104 workers—a drop of more than 18,000 from its peak in 2009.

Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Commerce and Community Development is preparing for the launch of the New Worker Relocation Grant Program on January 1. The program offers reimbursement grants of up to $7,500 to new residents who move to Vermont and take a job with a Vermont business. During the 2019 legislative session, the Legislature and Governor Scott worked together to pass, Act 80, which allocated nearly $2 million to fund the new worker relocation grant program. This new program follows the launch of the state’s remote worker program in 2019, which has seen 135 applications approved and 359 people, in total, move to Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine The Walter Cerf Community Fund (WCCF), a component fund of the Vermont Community Foundation, announces $112,380 in 2019 grants to 29 organizations to support work through summer 2020. Alongside many multi-year grants currently benefiting local organizations, these new grants will support a range of organizations and projects focused on social services, historic preservation, arts, education, and the needs of local residents experiencing poverty—reflecting the pattern of giving established by Walter Cerf during his lifetime.