Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Mt Ascutney Hospital and Health Center (MAHHC) has recognized 34 employees who have collectively served the Hospital for more than 535 years. Staff members were honored at a special Employee Service Awards dinner in the Hospital’s newly renovated café, where MAHHC President, CEO and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Perras personally thanked them for their contributions and commitment to the Hospital, its patients and the community.

“The quality of care we provide to our patients is only as good as the quality of the staff who are here to serve them everyday.” said Perras. “We thank you for your service, your dedication, and your commitment to always making our mission and vision a reality for our patients every day.

Perras was joined by several department heads and other MAHHC staffers who added to his praise for MAHHC employees.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Medical Center is one of only twenty-five hospitals in the country being recognized for “Environmental Excellence” by Practice Greenhealth, a leading national advocate for sustainable practices in health care. UVM Medical Center and other winners were lauded for addressing the links between the environment and human health, using data to demonstrate successes, and showing leadership in their local communities and across the health care sector. In addition, the UVM Medical Center’s Fanny Allen campus was given the “Emerald Award” for its outstanding sustainability programs.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott will be joined Tuesday morning by Commissioner of Health Mark Levine, MD and Dr Keith Robinson, pediatric pulmonologist with Vermont Children’s Hospital and board member of the American Lung Association in Vermont, to recognize local school districts for making asthma-friendly school policies and practices a priority in their buildings. The presentations will take place today at 11:15 am in the Governor’s ceremonial office at the State House in Montpelier. The awards will be presented to the Twin Valley School District, Addison Northwest School District and Colchester School District. Each winning school district will also receive a cash award from the American Lung Association and Department of Health to further advance asthma-friendly school policies.

Vermont Business Magazine Julia Crane, 22, of Colchester was crowned Miss Vermont 2018 at the Chandler Center for the Arts on Saturday evening in Randolph. Crane is a graduate of the University of Vermont with a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Food Sciences, a degree she earned Cum Laude. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Health, also from the University of Vermont, and expects to graduate in the fall. She performed a tap dance to Hey Momma/Hit the Road Jack by Pentatonix in the talent portion of the competition.

Julia Crane Miss Vermont 2018. Photos courtesy of Jon Adams Photography.

Vermont Business Magazine On May 31, World No Tobacco Day, the public is invited to a presentation and panel discussion on the use of JUUL — the e-cigarette brand — among youth in Vermont schools. Hear from students, school faculty members and health officials, including Health Commissioner Mark Levine, MD, about the popularity of e-cigarettes and vaping among students, and strategies for protecting our youth from addiction and harm caused by nicotine.

WHEN: Thursday, May 31, 2018
3:00 – 4:00 P.M.

Due to building security, please arrive 15 minutes before the presentation.

Vermont Business Magazine Ed Pelz of Brookdale Filmore Pond in Bennington was born on May 26, 1918. It wasn’t until recently that he discovered that he shared his birth year with Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC), the hospital he has supported for more than two decades.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott on Friday vetoed the budget (H924) and the tax (H911) bills, as expected. The Legislature will resume its Special Session Tuesday. The vetoes were promised because they included a property tax increase. The vetoes also buy the process of finding a compromise a little more time, because a bill not acted upon will become law even without a signature. But the ultimate deadline is June 30. Without a budget, state government will shut down on July 1. Scott vetoed the budget last year also, which also sent the Legislature into overtime. However, back then he promised that he would not let the state shut down; he has not made such a promise this year.

In vetoing the budget, H924 (the language is similar in the veto message of H911, see full message below), Scott said in part:

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott on Friday signed H.897, bipartisan legislation intended to improve the administration, effectiveness, availability and equity of services provided to students who require additional services.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Thursday secured language in the Senate Appropriations report on the annual Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations bill that would bring down barriers to low-income families using their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits at local farmers’ markets. The language would increase access to local, healthful and fresh food to low-income community members and expand direct market opportunities for Vermont farmers.

Leahy said: “This is just common sense. By expanding access to fresh produce we strengthen our communities’ ties to local agriculture and ensure that our neighbors and their children have access to the healthy food they need to thrive in their schools, their lives, and our communities.”

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims reversed course last week but are substantially lower than they were a year ago. For the week of May 19, 2018, there were 587 claims, 230 more than than they were the previous week, and 313 fewer than they were a year ago. Altogether 3,814 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 49 from a week ago, and 938 fewer than a year ago. For most weeks of 2017 and 2018 claims have been below the year before.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee last Thursday approved $4 million for USDA Acer Access and Development grants in the Senate fiscal year 2019 Agriculture Appropriations bill. The Acer program, created as part of the 2014 Farm Bill that Leahy helped craft and enact, offers grants to organizations conducting research and education related to the maple syrup industry.

The $4 million in funding is a $1 million increase over the fiscal year 2018 for the program and will fund technical research, extension and market development, and increased efficiency for all maple producing states. The bill must now head to the full Senate for consideration.

Isabel Wilkerson, author of the bestselling The Warmth of Other Suns and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, will deliver the 2018 Middlebury College Commencement address on Sunday, May 27. National Humanities medalist, Wilkerson spent 15 years working on her book, interviewing more than 1,200 people to tell one of the greatest underreported stories of the 20th century, that of the Great Migration. From 1915 to 1970, six million African-Americans fled the Jim Crow South in what became one of the largest internal migrations in United States history and one that permanently changed the social landscape of the country.