Current News
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine There is an important association between maternal cigarette smoking cessation during pregnancy and risk of preterm birth, according to a new Dartmouth-led study published in JAMA Network Open. The negative health impacts of cigarette smoking during pregnancy—which include low birth weight, delayed intrauterine development, preterm birth, infant mortality, and long-term developmental delays—are well known. In good news, the proportion of women who start their pregnancy as smokers has been declining in recent years.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) has released a set of proposed rules that set the stage for growing the Vermont hemp industry and the state’s economy. The Agency filed the rules with the Interagency Committee on Administrative Rules (ICAR), which begins the rule making process in Vermont. The Agency will hold public hearings around the state to take comments on the rules from all partners in the industry.
“Farmers are buying seed, equipment and land. Processors are opening facilities and hiring people. These proposed rules help shape the future. We are excited to help improve the rural economic landscape with this important step,” said VAAFM Secretary Anson Tebbetts.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine At a press conference Monday afternoon at Rutland Pharmacy, Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) unveiled two bills that will protect Vermont’s local independent pharmacies that are at risk due to anti-competitive practices by middlemen in the prescription drug market. There are 41 independent pharmacies in Vermont employing 381 full time employees.
“When Vermonters get sick, their local pharmacy is often the first place they visit for advice and care,” said Welch. “Community pharmacies are locally owned. Their pharmacists have earned the trust of customers. My legislation will level the competitive playing field to help ensure these vital small businesses remain open to serve their customers.”
Welch’s legislation tackles two significant threats to local pharmacies from behind-the-scenes “Pharmacy Benefit Managers” (PBMs) who act as middlemen in the prescription drug marketplace.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the recipients of nearly $2.2 million in federal funds for municipal grant projects under the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) for stormwater quality improvements across Vermont.
by tim
Greater focus on research to help meet Vermont’s energy & climate commitments as Lunderville joins board
Vermont Business Magazine The Energy Action Network (EAN) today announced the addition of four Board Members and the creation of a new Fellows program to help expand research and analysis on meeting Vermont’s total energy and emissions reduction commitments. In addition to the new leadership on the Board, EAN recently launched a Fellows program. EAN Senior Fellows are leading experts, not employed by any Network member, who are invited by EAN to regularly contribute research and analysis that is relevant to the Network’s mission. Current Senior Fellows include Karen Glitman, Linda McGinnis, and Leigh Seddon.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine The Department of Veterans Affairs has appointed Brett D. Rusch, MD, as the new Director of White River Junction VA Medical Center (WRJVAMC). Dr. Rusch will oversee the delivery of health care to approximately 26,000 Veterans throughout Vermont and the four contiguous counties of New Hampshire.
“We are excited to have Dr. Rusch on board as the new director of White River Junction VA Medical Center,” said Ryan Lilly, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 1 Director. “His sound leadership qualities and proven experience will continue to be valuable assets for the network, the employees and volunteers, and most importantly, for the Veterans we are honored to serve. He is currently serving as White River Junction’s chief of staff, so our Veterans throughout the region will benefit from his experience.”
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine Bethel resident John Young was working full-time as a blacksmith when someone close to him said he would make a good nurse. He agreed, earned his nursing credentials at age 38, and for 27 years and counting has made a career in health care, first in hospice—“Taking care of people who were dying was very meaningful to me”—and now in palliative care.
by tim
by John McClaughry The House-passed heating fuel tax bill (H.439) is now in the Senate Finance Committee, but the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee is busy crafting its own version (S.171). That version offers the same heating oil and propane tax increases approved by the House, doubling the rates to four cents per gallon. But it goes the House one better (or worse, depending if you’re paying). The House bill raised the gross receipts tax on natural gas by a third, from .75% to 1.0%. The Senate bill would double that rate to 1.5%.
The House bill contained no urgent “findings”. It just raised the tax rates that feed the weatherization program. The Senate bill leads off by declaring grandly that we need to impose more fuel taxes “to help our State meet its greenhouse gas reduction and weatherization goals, thereby addressing climate change.”
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC), and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) Center for Connected Care are pleased to announce the launch of specialty care for pregnant women with diabetes. The service is called teleGestationalDiabetes.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine The VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region (VNAHSR) has launched a new podcast, The Homecare Connection, a supplement to the successful public tv access show of the same name. The podcast focuses on empowering people to make a healthier decisions as they age and will provide solutions to individuals who are experiencing the challenges of caring for someone one who may need home health care as they age.
by tim
by Eliot Nelson, MD, Professor Emeritus, Pediatrics, University of Vermont, Robert Larner College of Medicine Over the past 28 years as a primary care pediatrician and teacher at UVM’s College of Medicine, and as a member of Vermont’s Child Fatality Review Team, I have learned much about suicide and gun violence. I have seen too often how these public health problems affect too many Vermont individuals and families – in spite of the strong safety commitment of most gun owners.
Vermont’s firearm suicide rate is higher than the nation’s average, and sadly has increased more than 30 percent over the pasts 20 years. I commend our legislature’s current effort to prevent future suicides through legislation that would require a waiting period before firearm purchase.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine Howard Center recently received a 2019 Governor’s Excellence in Worksite Wellness – GOLD Level Award from the Vermont Department of Health and the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. The award, presented at the Worksite Wellness Conference in Burlington in March, recognizes the agency’s commitment to employee health and wellness.
Howard Center’s health and wellness committee, HC4Me, sponsors various employee incentive programs throughout the year, including an annual health and wellness fair, Zumba and yoga classes, meditation and nutrition workshops, and walk at work campaigns. HC4Me works in partnership with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont’s Accountable Blue Program which supports the creation and implementation of effective wellness programming.